EMERGENCY  HOUSING 


BY 


RALPH  STANLEE  FANNING 

B.  Arch.,  Cornell  University,  1912. 
M.  S.,  University  of  Illinois,  1917. 


THESIS 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAl  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  PROFESSIONAL  DEGREE  OF 


MASTER  IN  ARCHITECTURE 

IN 

ARCHITECTURE 

IN 


THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


1921 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/emergencyhousingOOfann 


\*>z\ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

APRIL  3, l921_ 

o 

I HEREBY  RECOMMEND  THAT  THE  THESIS  PREPARED  BY 

RALPH  STANLEE  FAMING 

ENTITLED EMERGENCY  HOUSING 


BE  ACCEPTED  AS  FULFILLING  THIS  PART  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE 


PROFESSIONAL  DEGREE  OF 


MASTER  IN  ARCHITECTURE 


Head  of  Department  of  ARCHITECTURE 


Recommendation  concurred  in: 


.45  O.Q 


Committee 


EMERGENCY  HOUSING. 


Outline  of  Thesis  on  Emergency  Housing  presented 
at  the  University  of  Illinois  for  the  professional 
degree  of  Master  of  Architecture,  1921. 


Introduction . 

I.  Introduction  general:  The  homes  of  a people." 

The  historical  development  of  the  home  and  its 
relation  to  society. - The  home  as  a concrete 
record  of  the  community  life  of  its  age.- Some 
aspects  of  the  present  home  problem  as  a resul- 
tant of  our  own  age."  Plow  this  age  has  produced 
the  vital  problems  called  "Emergency  Housing". 

II.  Some  problematic  agenda. 

1.  Housing  ever  a difficult  problem. 

2.  "The  urban  disease". 

III.  Causes  producing  an  unnatural  demand  for  new 

or  revised  housing  conditions. 

1.  Natural  disasters. 

2.  Social  and  industrial  changes. 

3.  War  devastation. 


Body . 

I.  The  world  wide  problem  of  Emergency  Housing, 

II.  The  solution  of  emergency  hQusing  problems  after 
great  natural  disasters. 

1.  Fire. 

a.  Rome,  London,  Hamburg,  Paris,  Moscow, 
Boston,  Chicago  and  other  examples. 

2.  Flood, 

a.  Dayton,  Ohio, 

3.  Earthquake. 

a.  San  Francisco,  California. 

4.  Cyclone. 

a.  Mattoon,  Illinois. 


1 . 


III.  America's  attempt  to  solve  the  emergency  housing 
problem  through  governmental  patronage. 

1.  The  American  standards  of  "Rights  of  Home"  as 
formulized  by  housing  surveys. 

a.  Summation  of  fourteen  requirements  for 
every  family. 

2.  Ordnance  Department  housing. 

a.  .Discussion  of  methods. 

b.  Sixteen  examples. 

3.  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  housing  projects. 

a.  Discussion  of  methods. 

b.  Twenty-one  examples  with  problems,  archi- 
tects, etc. 

c.  Chester,  Pennsylvania , examined  in  detail 
as  a typical  example. 

(l)  Problem. 

(3)  Solution. 

(3)  Details, 

4.  Specific  architectural  lessons  taught. 

a.  Elements  of  village  planning. 

b.  Type  plans  of  minimum  size  houses. 


IV.  The  attempted  solution  of  the  emergency  housing 
problem  in  the  war-devastated  regions  of  northern 
France  and  Belgium. 

1.  The  problem  in  the  devastated  regions. 

3 . Communal  ho  s tel s . 

3.  The  problem  in  the  Marne  and  Meuse  (France). 

a.  First  necessities. 

b.  The  building  of  homes. 

4.  The  solution  by  the  Anglo-American  Society  of 
Friends  of  the  housing  problem  of  the  Verdun  section. 

a.  The  re-establishment  of  homes. 

(1)  New  'barrack  "cites".. 

(2)  Repair  work. 

5.  Features  of  relief  emergency  housing. 

a.  Materials  essential  for  repair  work  and 
housing  relief. 

b.  Demountable  houses. 

(1)  Discussion  and  details  of  type. 

1 1 . 


?! 


r 


Conclusion. 


Summary . 

1 . General . 

a*  Four  points  of  summation. 

2.  Results  from  natural  disasters. 

3*  Conclusions  from  govermental  patronage, 
a.  Chester,  Pa. 

4.  Evidence  from  devastated  France, 
a.  The  Verdun  accomplishment. 


5*  Prophetic  finale 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Page 

I! 

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23  1 .The  rising  water,  Dayton,  Ohio,  1913* 

2. Relief  housing  in  Tent  City,  Dayton,  Ohio,  1 913 

24  1 . The  flood,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

2.  Gleaning  away  the  debris  after  the  flood. 

28 1.  After  the  cyclone,  Mattoon,  111. 

2.  The  wreckage,  Mattoon,  111. 

41  Store  group,  Buckman  Village,  Chester,  Pa. 

42  semi-detached  houses  " " 

43  Four-family  apartment  house  " " . 

44  Seven-family  row  houses  " " " . 

45  Four- family  row  houses  " " • 

50  Plan,  Union  Park  Gardens,  Wilmington,  Del. 

51  Perspective,  " " " " . 

52  Plan  of  industrial  village, Marcus  Hook,  Pa. 

53  Plan  of  six-room  house  for  industrial  village. 

n / ti  11  n it  tt  tt  tt 



53 Block  plan,  Newburgh,  II. Y. 

5 6 Detached,  four-room  house,  Savannah,  Ga. 

59  Rheims  (devastated),  France. 

a.  Hotel  de  Vi lie. 

b.  Street. 

c . Cathedral  nave . 

d . C a the  dr  a 1 ch  o i r . 

60  Destro3red  churches  of  the  Meuse. 

a.  Clermont  en  Argonne. 

b.  Brize aux. 

c.  Neuvilley. 

d.  Dun  sur  Meuse. 

66 Refugee  hostel,  Clermont  en  Argonne,  Meuse. 

69 4-rHospital  barracks  at  Brizeaux,  Meuse  . 

2. Shelter  in  the  Argonne  forest,  Meuse. 

3*  Temporary  quarters  at  Grange  le  Comte,  Meuse. 

1v. 


. 


. 


List  of  Illustrations,  Cont'd. 


Page  71. Map  of  the  Verdun  region. 

" 77 Working  plans  of  demountable  houses. 

" 78--' Elevation  and  details  of  demountable  houses. 

" 79 Details  of  demountable  houses. 

" -Stages  of  demountable  house  erection- 

» go The  rehousing  of  Sermaize  les  Bains,  Marne. 

1.  The  village  pump. 

2-  The  main  street. 

3.  House  of  the  village  carpenter. 


EMERGENCY  HOUSING 


INTRODUCTION 

I.  INTRODUCTION,  GENERAL. 

The. robin  building  its  nest  in  Spring,  the  fox  seeking 
out  some  secluded  spot  in  which  to  burrow,  the  beaver  with  tire- 
less energy  damming  up  a stream,  - all  proclaim  the  natural  in- 
stinct for  animals  to  house  themselves  as  safely  and  snugly  as 
possible,  to  provide  the  best  conditions  in  which  they  may  live 
and  rear  their  young,  unmolested  by  the  elements  and  their  natural 
enemies.  Man,  in  his  primitive  state,  must  have  been  forced  by 
similar  instincts  to  select  for  himself  a safe  cave  or  a protec- 
tion of  forest  to  guard  him  and  his  from  raging  storm  and  savage 
beast.  With  an  awakening  intellect  and  developing  reasoning 
power  to  supplement  a natural  instinct,  man  early  began  to  con- 
struct for  himself,  to  utilize  the  gifts  that  Nature  provided  and 
to  plan  his  domicile  according  to  his  ever  multiplying  wants  and 
needs . 

To  study  the  development  of  man's  dwelling  places  is  to 
study  the  history  of  man  himself,  so  accurate  a material  record 
of  his  life  and  his  state  of  civilization  is  the  house  in  which  he 
has  lived.  The  climate  and  country,  the  occupation  and  social 
habits,  the  state  of  governments  and  the  process  of  arts  are  all 
recorded  in  the  habitations  of  men.  The  climate  compelled  him  to 
build  for  protection  from  heat  or  cold,  from  rain  or  snow;  the 
country  furnished  him  the  material  which  his  awakening  talents 

I 


I 


t 


2. 


must  needs  utilize;  his  occupation  and  social  life  determined 
the  shape,  size  and  plan  of  his  dwelling  place;  and  from  these  we 
are  able  to  determine  whether  his  laws  allowed  him  to  dwell  in 
peace  or  in  warfare,  or  permitted  him  to  devote  his  days  to  the 
perfection  of  his  arts,  to  make  permanent  records  of  his  ability 
as  decorator,  painter  or  sculptor. 

It  takes  but  a casual  student  of  history  to  comprehend 
how  great  a part  the  homes  of  a people  have  played  in  their  nation- 
al development;  of  what  a direct  result  they  are  of  the  life  that 
has  inspired  their  building.  Go  back  to  the  dawn  of  human  history, 
to  the  first  known  inhabitants  of  the  valley  of  the  Tigris-Euph- 
rates,  building  with  mud  and  reeds,  to  the  early  Egyptians  build- 
ing with  the  natural  granite  and  with  bricks  made  from  the  mud  of 
the  Nile.  All  people  v/ere  building  their  homes  and  their  temples 
with  the  material  that  Nature  provided  and  in  a form  that  Nature 
suggested.  No  less  v/ere  the  marble  temples  of  the  Greeks,  the 
massively  vaulted  palaces  and  baths  of  the  Romans,  the  secluded 
catacombs  of  the  early  Christians,  the  irregular  structures  of  the 
Romanesque,  the  lofty  cathedrals  of  the  Gothic  and  the  studied  re- 
finements of  the  Renaissance  building,  - all  an  apt  portrayal  of 
their  times  and  thoughts. 

Today,  we  live  in  an  age  when  modern  inventions  have  to 
a great  degree  broken  down  the  barriers  of  distance,  of  race  and 
of  language.  The  home  builder  of  today  may,  if  he  so  desires,  im- 
port the  materials  which  he  is  to  use  for  his  building  from  the 
other  side  of  the  globe,  or  build  in  a form  and  style  as  foreign 
to  his  natural  elements  as  a wide  experience  and  diverse  education 


.3. 


may  inspire.  The  masses,  however,  are  still  largely  controlled 
by  their  environment  and  limited’  in  their  building  by  the  materials 
and  arts  near  at  hand.  This  fact  alone  makes  the  study  of  the 
hemes  of  a people  one  of  the  greatest  importance,  both  from  the 
interest  and  knowledge  gleaned  from  historical  research,  and  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  future  development  of  a people  along  the 
paths  that  will  lead  to  their  highest  uplift  and  produce  a higher 
state  of  social  order  than  any  yet  achieved. 

It  is  an  essential  fact  that  even  the  most  Utopian 
of  social  reformers  will  admit  that  vigor,  health  and  consequent 
industry,  and  thus  the  morals  of  a people,  are  ever  largely  de- 
pendent upon  the  material  conditions  that  surround  them.  While 
saints  may  grow  up  in  sewers,  - fair  lilies  from  dung  heaps,  - 
such  are  the  exceptions  in  this  world  where  too  large  a proportion 
of  the  inhabitants  are  forced  to  live  their  lives  in  dusty  fac- 
tories, crowded  homes  and  dingy  slums,  surrounded  by  cold  and 
damp  walls  without  sufficient  air  and  sunlight,  without  proper 
sanitation,  without  beauty,  without  order.  It  is  man’s  heritage 

that  he  be  allowed  to  breatie  the  untainted  air,  drink  the  pure 

■ 

waters,  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  own  labors.  There  may  be  but 
a modest  amount  of  food,  clothing  and  comfort,  but  enough  so  that 
he  may  have  all  the  chances  of  perserving  his  good  health  and  of 
providing  for  his  children  an  even  larger  amount  of  the  good  thing: 
of  this  world  which  his  labors  have  helped  to  provide. 

The  ever  increasing  growth  of  cities  and  the  era  of 
factory  rule  are  said  to  be  the  causes  of  the  wretched  homes 
that  are  all  too  common  a feature  of  nearly  all  nations.  As  the 


I 


4. 


population  of  the  world  increases  and  as  that  population  seems 
to  call  for  machine  made  articles,  the  people  flock  to  work  in 
the  factories  where  these  articles  are  made  and  which,  for  obvious 
reasons,  are  crowded  in  close  to  the  city.  Thus  the  housing  prob- 
lem ever  becomes  a more  acute  one.  This  is  specially  felt  in  the 
great  eras  of  social  unrest  when  the  rising  voice  of  Labor  demands 
ever  louder  and  louder  to  be  heard.  This  voice  of  Labor  cries  for 
higher  wages  which  it  can  usually  summon,  only  to  send  the  cost 
of  production  and  the  cost  of  living  up  to  a point  where  the  in- 
creased income  is  of  no  greater  value  than  was  the  wage  before 
the  "strike"  or  "walkout"  or  whatever  it  may  have  been.  Great 
manufacturing  and  industrial  concerns  have  been  forced  to  observe 
that  it  is  not  primarily  the  dollar  that  the  worker  is  demanding, 
but  better  conditions  under  which  he  may  work  and  live.  To  meet 
these  conditions  is  a problem  which  must  concern  every  law  maker, 
social  worker,  architect  and  industrial  organiser. 

Ever  and  anon  the  cry  has  been  raised  to  break  up  exist- 
ing government  or  established  industries  when  the  emergency  of 
the  home  question  becomes  too  oppressive.  Such  are  the  cries  of 
Maximalists,  of  Bolsheviks,  of  radical  Reds,  - whatever  the  age 
may  call  them.  The  cries  are  often  justified  and  the  calls  answer- 
ed, but  the  aid  must  be  constructive,  not  destructive.  It  is 
often  true  that  under  better  political  organization,  better  home 
conditions  might  prevail;  that  under  different  industrial  systems, 
different  living  might  be  enjoyed.  So,  as  truly,  if  there  were 
better  homes  , they  themselves  might  be  productive  of  the  greater 


5. 


' 

politics-;  with  better  sanitation  and  brighter  living  conditions, 
industries  might  flourish  with  an  unknown  prosperity.  Man's  moral 
and  political  life  goes  hand  in  hand  with  his  more  material  being. 
The  two  cannot  be  separated.  He  must  think  of  building  homes  more 
soundly,  more  beautifully,  so  that  his  law-makers  may  be  better 
trained.  He  must  work  for  better  laws  so  that  his  homes  may  be 
better  built.  Hand  in  hand,  not  pulling  adversely,  but'  together 
strengthened  and  guided  one  by  another,  social  uplift  must  go  with 
the  art  of  living  which  is  primarily  the  art  of  homemaking. 

Now,  there  comes  a time  when  forces  of  circumstance  make 
conditions  such  that  the  more  natural  course  of  home  making  is  sud- 
denly interrupted.  Construction  comes  to  a sudden  halt,  and  society 
is  tossed  pell-mell  by  the  very  laws  of  inertia  ; Again  some  un- 
heralded or  unforeseen  force  of  the  elements  wipes  out  the  accumu- 
lated sum  of  man's  effort,  leaving  him  to  start  anew  on  a clean 
slate,  as  it  were,  the  problem  of  his  habitation.  Such  catastroph- 
ies,  as  lamentable  and  disasterous  as  they  may  be  to  the  immediate 
victims,  offer  a chance  to  study  the  redevelopment  of  the  homes  of 
a people  in  oftentimes  more  ideal  directions  and  in  far  shorter 
spaces  of  time  than  normal  conditions  would  ever  permit.  Recent 
years  have  offered  many  such  examples  and  in  offering  them,  have 
led  men  to  a more  serious,  more  comprehensive  study  of  the  housing 
problems  as  a whole,  of  industrial  housing,  garden  cities  and, more 
important , the  emergency  of  the  whole  problem. 

In  taking  up  the  subject  of  EMERGENCY  HOUSING  as  it  has 
confronted  the  people  of  the  world  at  large  and  considering  how 
the  problem  has  been  dealt  with  in  some  specific  cases,  it  may  be 


. 


C ■ ; 


r 


6 . 


well,  briefly  to  consider  first  some  agenda  whose  very  existence 
causes  the  problem  ever  to  confront  the  world  in  normal  as  well 
as  abnormal  times. 

II.  SOME  PROBLEMATIC  AGENDA 

1#  Difficulties  of  Housing. 

From  the  very  beginning,  housing  must  have  been  one  of 
man’s  most  difficult  problems.  The  cave  of  primitive  man  was 
dark,  unsanitary  and  ill-fitted.  In  mediaeval  times,  families 
were  crowded  together  within  fortified  sites  which  were  from  the 
necessity  of  feudal  warfare,  close,  cramped  and  unhealthful.  The 
housing  problem  as  it  is  known  in  the  modern  world,  especially 
in  Great  Britain  and  America,  originated  as  a feature  of  the  in- 
dustrial revolution  and  the  rapid  crowding  of  the  population  into 
to. ms,  making  a problem  that  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  prooerly 
approached  and  solved.  Even  with  the  many  ideas  advanced  in  sani- 
tary science,  public  health  and  housing  legislation  during  the 
nineteenth  century,  there  has  seldom  been  any  very  marked  success 
in  the  remedy  or  in  the  thorough  realization  of  housing  evils. 

The  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  displayed  the  problem  still 
m^re  intensely,  out  only  with  the  almost  tragic  conditions  result— 
ing  from  the  urgent  demands  of  the  Great  War  was  any  drastic 
action  taken.  Then,  as  never  before,  was  felt  the  true  strength 
cr  weakness  of  the  main  fibre  of  the  social  fabric.  It  was  found 
t^a t without  decent  homes,  sanitary  living  conditions  and  some 
color  in  ohe  surroundings,  men  will  strike,  social  unrest  will 
prevail  to  a disusterous  degree,  no  matter  how  many  times  wages 


7 . 


are  increased.  War  measures  at  their  best  are  never  ideal.  A 
regime  that  aids  construction  only  to  promote  destruction,  can 
scarcely  be  expected  to  propitiate  extensive  prosperity  or  wide- 
spread economic  welfare.  With  all  that  has  been  done,  there  are 

of  them 

seldom  enough  houses  to  go  around  and  the  majority  are  incompetent- 

are 

ly  designed,  unsoundly  built,  and, in  various  ways , /destructive  to 
the  health  and  comfort  of  their  occupants. 

For  the  most  part  the  provision  of  houses  has  been  in 

a 

the  hands  of  speculative  builders  the  world  ever.  There  are  few 
exceptions, as  in  America  where  the  government , through  the  Emer- 
gency Fleet  Corporation, has  undertaken  to  house  their  workers;  in 
England  where  landlords  have  built  houses  on  some  great  town  or 
country  estate.  In  both  countries,  there  was  prior  to  the  war 
increasing  interest  in  town-planning  with  garden  suburbs  and 
cooperative  building  by  groups  of  employees  or  by  societies.  In 
Germany,  considerable  success  has  been  attained  in  the  abolition 
of  slums  and  the  development  of  the  ideal  dwelling.  For  almost 
ten  years  before  the  war,  however,  there  was  no  great  progress  in 
any  residential  building, due  to  the  upward  trend  of  prices  and  the 
inability  of  workers  to  pay  an  economic  rent.  The  deficiency  of 
houses  and  the  resultant  overcrowding  rapidly  increased.  Then 
the  war  brought  a dead  stop  to  production  in  many  lands  and  great 
material  waste  and  destruction  in  others. 

A difficulty,  then,  which  first  suggests  the  theme  of 
'Emergency  Housing',  is  the  fact  that  the  number  of  dwelling  houses 
in  most  of  the  world  is  grossly  inadequate  for  the  number  of  people 
who  occupy  them.  This  may  partly  be  due  to  the  fact  that  many  of 


e. 


the  dwellings  that  now  encumber  the  earth  are  in  the  wrong  places. 
Houses  are  apt  to  be  disagreeably  permanent  objects  in  a world  of 
quickly  changing  ideas  and  wants.  Old  houses  may  be  replaced  by 
new  properties,  as  is  so  rapidly  taking  place  in  most  of  our  great 
growing  cities,  but  this  calls  for  great  expenditures  of  time  and 
labor  and  the  sacrifice  of  tangible  property  and  sentimental 
associations.  Such  changes  come  almost  in  the  nature  of  revolu- 
tions, and  revolutions  are  always  late.  Providing  undesirable 
houses  could  be  dispensed  with,  it  is  seldom  possible  to  revert 
land,  once  it  has  been  "developed^  back  into  productive  agricul- 
tural land. 

An  English  land  reformer*  well  sums  up  the  matter  of  mis- 
applied housing  energy  in  this  manner: 

"Our  great  towns  seem  to  be  imperishable  memor- 
ials to  our  ancestors'  lack  of  foresight.  Many  streets 
are  too  narrow;  houses,  factories  and  shops  are  crowded 
together  in  an  inconvenient  and  unhealthy  jumble;  and 
yet  in  ninty-nine  cases  out  of  a hundred,  when  the  build- 
ings wear  out,  we  replace  them  by  loftier  buildings  oc- 
cupying much  the  same  area  and  perpetuating  the  old  plan 
which  everyone  will  admit  is  indefensible." 

The  truth  of  this  statement  is  brought  home  when  one  con- 
siders the  rapid  growth  in  most  any  one  of  our  great  American 
cities.  Even  with  all  possible  foresight  and  imagination  brought 
to  play  upon  the  selection  of  Sites  for  homes,  a few  years  time 
may  show  a great  error;  but  with  the  present  haphazard  system, 
or  want  of  system,  under  which  our  towns  develop  under  the  control 
of  real  estate  agents,  speculative  builders  and  selfish  private  in- 

*"New  Towns,  an  argument  for  Garden  Cities",  J.  M.  Dent  and  Sons, 
Aldine  House,  Bedford  St.,  Convent  Gardens,  London,  W.C.2. 


• J 


* *»' 


, 

! . i 


9. 


terests,  nearly  every  phase  of  the  housing  question  bids  fair  to 
come  under  the  title  of  EMERGENCY  HOUSING  or  REHOUSING. 

2.  The  Urban  Disease. 

There  is  usually  some  geographic  cause  for  the  founding 
of  a city  in  any  definite  place,  although  fate  or  chance  seems 
often  to  have  had  a hand  in  it.  Why  the  city  once  started  should 
continue  to  grow  to  such  unwieldy  and  vitally  dangerous  propor- 
tions seems  to  be  due  to  the  animal  instinct  of  the  human  to  herd, 
and  to  lack  the  initiative  to  seek  more  original  modes  of  living. 

One  industry  promotes  another.  All  increase  the  number 
of  the  populace  living  in  a limited  district.  The  city’s  growth 
demands  expansion.  Without  common  interest  and  foresight,  fac- 
tories spring  up  in  the  midst  of  homes.  The  sites  of  natural 
beauty  and  sources  of  natural  health  are  sacrificed  to  commercial 
interest.  The  city  grows,  but  does  not  develop.  It  offers  up  its 
homes  and  gardens  on  the  smoking  altar  of  industry.  The  suburban 
residences  make  inroads  upon  the  productive  country  side,  making 
fresh  food  supply  ever  more  dear  and  scarce  to  the  needy  urban 
consumer.  He,  shut  off  from  his  due  supplies  of  sun  and  air  and 
food, develops  the  first  symptoms  of  the  urban  disease.  His  chil- 
dren are  not  apt  to  have  much  chance  of  escaping  the  microbe,  and 
soon  there  is  a great  populace  afflicted  with  the  malady  which 
may  be  called  nUrbanitis” . Yet,  there  are  seldom  enough  homes  for 
those  who  seem  all  too  willing  to  risk  an  infection  of  the  disease 
whose  Ultimate  symptoms  show  crime  and  physical  degeneracy. 


10. 


The  rival  disease  of  the  country  is  not  absent  from  the 
rural  communities  for  somewhat  the  same  reason  of  improper  housing. 
" Compagnitis"  seems  usually  to  inflict  its  victim  with  more  energy 
as  he  is  apt  to  seek  a remedy  by  moving  to  the  city,  there  only 
to  be  exposed  to  the  worse  plague  of  "Urbanitis" . The  causes  of 
the  rural  disease  are  not  difficult  to  find.  There  is  so  often 
in  the  country  districts  or  small  towns  the  lack  of  vitality 
promoted  by  new  things,  popular  excitements  and  the  sense  of  pro- 
gress which  seems  to  center  in  the  cities  where  the  streets  are 
full  of  people  and  there  is  stirring  activity  on  all  sides.  Com- 
pare with  this  the  dullness  of  the  country  village  whose  smallness 
and  isolation  makes  social  tyranny  almost  inevitable.  So  many  of 
our  rural  dwellers'  lives  have  little  diversity.  There  is  but  one 
house  in  which  the  rural  dweller  may  live,  only  one  school  to 
which  he  may  send  his  children,  only  on©  employer  for  whom  he  may 
work.  In  such  cases  there  can  be  little  sense  of  freedom.  Ambi- 
tions are  easily  squelched;  independence  and  security  are  hard  to 
obtain.  All  of  these  elements  tend  to  breed  the  germs  of  "Ccm- 
pagnitis" , germs  which  the  more  progressive  man  tries  to  destroy 
by  crowding  into  the  city  where,  at  first  glance,  cooperation, 
politics,  gayety,  - all  seem  so  noisily  emphatic. 

The  city  is  striving  to  solve  the  problem  with  all  the 
building  laws,  park  commissions,  city  planning  and  regulations. 

Many  of  the  attempts  are  most  commendable,  but,  as  flexible  and 
young  as  most  of  our  American  cities  still  are,  even  these  good 
and  necessary  reforms  have  usually  been  found  to  be  most  difficult 
and  expensive.  All  the  admirable  tendencies  toward  suburban 

=?«■■' 1 ■j"-1"  — ■ — — 


!? 


i! 


V 


* 


• 1 

■ •- 


- 


! 


f 


i . . 


. 


11. 


development  and  slum  clearance  only  tend  to  make  bigger  the  al- 
ready oversized  city,  enlarging  the  difficulties  of  transfer  to 
and  from  work  - at  best  a grievous  waste  of  man’s  time  and  energy, - 
and  the  distancing  of  fresh  supplies  of  milk  and  food  with  added 
transport  difficulties.  Then  with  the  city's  growing  so  large,  it 
loses  the  community  spirit  and  becomes  too  cumbersome  and  unwieldy 
for  the  cooperation  and  spirit  that  originally  prompted  its  growth. 
Thus  it  seems  that  the  present  tendency  is  to  endeavor  to  cool  the 
irritation  by  applying  external  remedies  without  doctoring  the 
vital  inner  nature  of  the  diseases,  either  "Urban  it  is"  or  "Compagnitis ". 

Thus  our  civilization  goes  on  building  up  by  battling 
down  such  handicaps,  striving  ever  for  the  Millennium,  but  so 
often  forced  back  by  the  adversities  of  our  social  order  that  pro- 
gress seems  inexcusably  impeded' and,  because  of. this,  thousands 
must  fall  crushed  by  the  wayside.  From  the  home  builders  view- 
point, it  seems  essential  that  something  be  done  to  ease  the  fate 
of  these  fallen, to  provide  "The  house  by  -the  side  of  the  road"  of 
which  the  ancient  Greek  poet  sang*  This  must  be  done  in  response 
to  ai  imperative  need  that  makes  the  homing  problem, whose  solution 
is  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  mankind,  "EMERGENCY  HOUSING". 

III.  CAUSES  PRODUCING  AN  UNNATURAL  DEMAND  FOR  NEW  OR  REVISED 

HOUSING  CONDITIONS. 

1.  Natural  Disasters. 

If  we  lived  in  the  age  of  believers  in  jealous  Gods  and 
resorts  of  a harsh  Providence,  it  would  sometimes  seem  that  Fate, 
herself,  took  up  the  problem  and  tried  to  straighten  out  the  tangles 


13. 

of  man  and  his  foolish  ways  by  sweeping  out  his  looms  and  giving 
him  a chance  to  commence  his  fabric  anew.  Natural  disasters  such 
as  sweep  over  certain  areas  from  time  to  time  as  they  have  through- 
out the  ages,  offer  us  critical  examples  of  calls  f or  Emergency 
Housing,  not  only  in  the  immediate  shelter  of  the  destitute  sur- 
vivors, but  also  in  the  re-establishment  of  their  homes  and  insti- 
tutions in  the  quickest  possible  time.  In  such  cases,  emergency 
housing  has  two  aspects.  First,  there  is  the  immediate  need  of 
shelter  for  the  stricken  inhabitants,  a problem  usually  falling 
upon  the  usually  overburdened  shoulders  of  such  relief  organization; 
as  the  Red  Cross,  or  upon  the  generosity  and  hospitality  of  neigh- 
boring cities,  if  such  be  in  a position  to  respond.  The  second 

problem  is  the  re-establishment  of  the  old  order  or  of  an  improved 

of 

order  by  the  rapid  rebuilding  of  the  homes  and/ business  and  social 
edifices, so  that  interrupted  livelihood  may  again  assume  its  normal 
course. 

History  offers  notable  examples  of  the  revision  of  cities 
because  of  natural  disasters.  The  burning  of  Rome  in  the  time  of 
Nero  was  the  cause  of  a greatly  changed  capitol  in  a material  as 
well  as  in  a political  sense.  The  classic  oblivion  of  the  cities 
at  the  base  of  erupting  Vesuvius  , while  not  pertinent  to  the  sub- 
ject of  emergency  housing,  reminds  one  of  what  natural  phenomena 
have  done  to  man's  work,  and  of  what  a disaster  Nature  brought 
upon  these  people,  even  though  She  did  thus  preserve  for  future 
generations  most  remarkable  records  of  classic  life  and  art  by 
burying  Pompeii  until  modern  archaeologists  could  lift  the  shroud 
after  twenty  centuries  of  oblivion.  European  history  offers  many 


13. 


examples  where  fire  alone  has  wiped  out  towns  and  cities,  the 
homes  of  the  people  being  thus  destroyed  by  thousands.  Earth- 
quakes and  floods  have  claimed  their  fatal  toll.  Realizing  the 

suffering  and  terrible  hardships  that  such  calamities  can  cause 

coming 

even  in  our  present  day  of  quick  response#,  from  sympathetic  generos- 

-ation 

ity  and  with  rapid  tr^nsport/^ s orne  appreciation  can  be  had  of 
what  dreadful  suffering  must  have  been  experienced  because  of  the 
lack  of  efficient  emergency  housing  in  past  times.  The  only  cheer- 
ing prospect  cf  such  disasters  is  the  fact  that  Time  has  usually 
healed  the  wounds  and  seen  the  destroyed  town  or  city  revive  upon 
a higher  plane  and  with  houses  more  adequate  for  the  homes  of  a 
people , 

2.  Social  and  Industrial  Changes. 

Quite  as  important  an  element  in  the  study  of  emergency 
housing  as  that  cf  the  healing  of  natural  ravages,  is  the  prompt 
provision  of  the  homes  of  a people  when  the  critical  demand  is 
brought  about  by  some  great  social  or  industrial  changes,  - 
changes  which  for  economic  and  geographical  reasons  must  ever  occur 
The  field  and  forest  storehouses  of  uncounted  wealth  in  America 
have  afforded  an  easy  solution  in  this  sudden  need  of  homes.  Until 
early  1917,  when  the  inevitable  participation  in  a World  War 
called  thousands  away  from  their  accustomed  habitations  to  take 
up  new  abodes  in  congested  centers  of  production  or  trade,  the 
problem  of  providing  such  homes  did  not  specially  harass  American 
life.  Previously,  America  had  been  used  to  mushroon  growth  of 
the  more  westerly  cities,  but  with  immense  natural  wealth  in  un- 


1 


14. 


tried,  territories,  the  housing  problems  of  the  more  congested 

eastern  cities  had  not  been  of  special  concern.  When  the  demand 

came  for  intensified  production  in  the  great  manufacturing  plants 

or  snipyards,  naturally  there  had  to  be  collected  about  these 

a circumstance 

centers  armies  of  men/which  soon  meant  the  proportional  increase 
in  families  and  the  manifold  accompaniments  of  family  life  • Then 
v;as  the  necessity  of  confronting  the  housing  problems  that  had 
been  faced  by  England,  France,  and  no  doubt  all  the  warring  nations 
to  a more  or  less  great  degree.  Such  demands  for  emergency  hous- 
ing have  continued  to  increase  even  with  the  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties, for  in  all  countries  the  war  and  its  accompanying  shortage 
of  men  and  materials  for  normal  production,  stopped  building  while 
the  home  demanding  population  went  on  increasing,  even  though  at 
a somewhat  lesser  rate.  This  phase  of  Emergency  housing  will  be 
needed  as  long  as  social  and  economic  conditions  change. 

V 

3.  War  Victims. 

A still  more  urgent  demand  and  more  vital  problem  of 
emergency  housing  is  that  of  sheltering  and  rehabitating  the 
civilians  from  a war  stricken  territory,  - such  problems  as  have 
confronted  Belgium  and  Northern  Francs  in  an  enormity  probably 
never  before  equaled.  In  these  cases  a people  were  suddenly  forc- 
ed to  free  from  the  homes  of  their  lifetime  and  of  their  fathers 
before  them,  in  front  of  an  enemies’  shell-fire.  After  four  years 
of  exile,  they  returned  to  start  anew  their  lives  on  the  after- 
math  of  pitifully  thorough  armies,  reapers  of  all  that  made  for 
o.ie  charms  and  comforts  of  their  old  homes.  The  enormity  of  this 


“I 


15. 

social  tradegy  as  it  presented  itself  immediately  after  the  Armis- 
tice of  1918,  and  as  it  still  exists  in  hundreds  of  villages  of 
Northern  France,  makes  as  appealing  a call  as  could  v/ell  stir  the 
hearts  of  all  who  respect  social  laws  and  traditions,  loyality 
and  devotion  to  home  and  hearth-side,  and  humanity  at  large. 

First  aid  remedies  and  soothing  salves  for  the  binding 
of  the  wounds  and  cooling  of  the  fever  of  these  economic  and 
social  injuries  are  stored  within  the  kit-bags  of  architects,  had 
they  the  training  and  spirit  of  public  service  that  would  prompt 
them  to  apply  the  remedies  which,  combined  with  other  agencies, 
might  make  for  permanent  cure.  It  is  then  the  purpose  of  this 
brief  work  to  present  some  phases  of  the  so-called"Emergency  Hous- 

ii 

mg  work  that  have  come  under  the  author’s  observation,  hoping 
that  even  such  an  incomplete  presentation  may  at  least  incite 
some  thought  and  consideration  of  the  homing  problem  that  is  a 
universally  vital  one. 


16. 


BODY 

I.  THE  WORLD  WIDE  PROBLEM  OF  EMERGENCY  HOUSING. 

The  housing  problem  is  world  wide  in  its  scope.  The 
tragic  fate  of  the  destroyed  villages  of  Belgium  and  Northern 
France,  the  wretched  conditions  in  Poland,  Serbia  and  Russia,  the 
less  familiar  but  no  less  terrible,  living  accommodations  in  the 
various  parts  of  the  Near  East  and  in  all  the  land  affected  by  the 
grim  hands  of  war,  are  perhaps,  in  spite  of  all  their  urgency,  no 
less  vigorously  calling  for  attention  than  the  problems  of  our 
own  so  rapidly  growing  America.  Approaching  then  the  problem  in 
the  United  States  where  growth  of  towns  has  been  phenomenal  and 
often  as  illogical  as  phenomenal  when  matters  of  permanent  welfare 
and  beautiful  stability  are  concerned,  there  is  still  the  advantage 
of  an  easy  conversion  to  better  habits  and  not  the  often  hindering 
handicaps  of  age  and  tradition.  There  is  also  the  artistic  wealth 
of  the  old  world  by  which  America  may  prcfit,and  especially  the 
experiments  and  activities  of  Great  Britain  to  offer  advice  in  the 
solution  of  a similar  problem. 

The  problem  is  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  may  have 
a habitation  affording  fresh  air  and  sunlight,  sufficient  warmth 
and  shelter,  in  reasonable  access  to  plentiful  food  and  pure  water, 
with  necessary  facilities  for  profitable  work,  clean  play  and  sound 
education.  The  requirements  do  not  seem  unreasonable  and  to  some 
may  seem  already  attained.  Such,  however,  cannot  be  "au  courant” 
with  easily  accessible  statistics  on  infant  mortality,  tubercu- 


1. 


« 


I1; 


17. 


losis,  poverty  from  unemployment  or  even  employment  under  normal 
conditions, and  illiteracy. 

II.  THE  SOLUTION  OF  EMERGENCY  HOUSING  PROBLEMS  AFTER  GREAT 
NATURAL  DISASTERS. 

Conscious  of  the  need  and  importance  of  Emergency  Housing, 
there  is  an  opportunity  of  turning  back  over  the  pages  of  histori- 
cal records  and  gleaning  some  interesting  facts  from  the  critical 
times  when  the  problems  of  homing  have  most  urgently  confronted  a 
people,  and  of  studying  what  has  there  been  the  attempted  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  and  the  ultimate  outcome.  Most  of  the  notable 
examples  of  what  may  be  called1' Emergency  Housing"  although  perhaps 
the  term  is  here  used  in  an  unprecedented  way,  have  been  caused 
by  great  disasters  such  as  fires,  floods  and  earthquakes.  Fire 
was  the  greatest  and  most  common  scourge,  playing  as  it  did  its 
part  in  warfare  and  the  other  disasters  that  befell  cities.  Except 
for  the  burnings,  warfare  did  not  in  the  days  before  the  modern  • 
technique  of  high  explosives  and  low  ethics  play  such  a disaster- 
cus  a part  in  the  destruction  of  cities. 

1.  Fires. 

The  pages  of  history  record  accounts  of  devastation  by 
fire  in  nearly  every  country  in  the  civilized  world,  especially 
before  the  days  of  fire  prevention  laws  and  the  organization  of 
adequate  fire-extinguishing  establishments.  Since  the  annual  fire 


, 


•• 


. 


' 

. 


18. 


wastage  of  the  world  has  been  stated*1  still  to  average  some 
twenty-five  million  dollars,  this  one  item  alone  bears  an  impor- 
tant relation  to  Emergency  Housing.  Ancient  history  records  the 
burning  of  Athens  during  the  Persian  Wars  and  the  more  notorious 
"Great  Fire"  (A.D.  64)  that  left  ten  of  the  fourteen  wards  of 
ancient  Rome  in  ashes  after  eight  days  of  conflagration.  As  great 
as  this  disaster  must  have  been  to  the  Imperial  City,  Meyers  calls 
it  a blessing  in  disguise,  as  a new  city  of  marble, with  narrow, 
crooked  streets  made  into  bread  beautiful  avenues,  rose  from  the 
charred  remains.***  During  the  middle  ages  and  notably  during  the 
17th  and  18th  centuries,  there  were  disastrous  conflagrations  of 
which  thirty-five  disasters  of  the  first  order  are  listed  for 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  eight  for  France,  twenty-seven  for 
Central  and  Southern  Europe,  fifteen  for  Northern  Europe,  thirteen 
for  Russia  and  thirty  for  the  United  States,  the  latter  number 
being  between  the  dates  of  1679-1871.  In  more-  recent  times, 
there  have  been  many  more  notable  fires,  particularly  in  North 
America,  - Chicago  in  1871,  Baltimore  in  1304,  San  Francisco  in 
1906,  each  being  a memorable  example. 

*1  Encyclopaedia  Britannica:  Eleventh  Edition,  Vol • 10.  Pages  401-1  1* 

* ( "A  great  part  of  the  burnt  region  was  appropriated  by  Nero  for 
the  buildings  and  ground  of  an  immense  palace  called  the  Golden 
House  of  which  Nero  is  said  to  have  remarked,  'Now  I am  housed 
as  a man  ought  to  be'.")  Meyer's  Ancient  History*  PaSe  • * 

Encyclopaedia  Britanni cal  Eleventh  Edition,  Vol.  tOjPage  402.  X. 


. A 


y 


. 


4 


* 


. 

- 

' 


. 


. • • 


. 


19. 


Of  special  interest  from  an  architectural  standpoint  of 
results  in  rehousing,  "The  Great  Fire"  of  London  (September  2-5, 
1665)  stands  out  with  special  conspicuousness  as  the  setting  for 
the  great  accomplishment  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren  (1632-1723),  who 
was  thus  given  an  opportunity  to  remake  the  plans  for  the  world’s 
metropolis . 

Due  to  the  crowded  and  unsanitary  conditions  of  the  hous- 
ing, London  of  the  middle  ages  and  even  up  into  the  late  years  of 
the  17th  century,  was  often  the  seat  of  ravaging  plagues.  One 
that  is  best  known  to  history  as  the  "great  plague"  broke  out  in 
December,  1664.  An  account  from  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys  tells 
of  how, 

"I  have  stayed  in  the  city  till  about  74,000 
died  in  one  week,  and  of  them  about  60,000  of  the 
plague  and  little  noise  is  heard  day  or  night,  but 
the  tolling  of  bells.-"  September  4,  1&G5;  Samuel 
Pepys  to  Lady  Carteret  from  Woolwich. 

It  was  on  the  trail  of  this  plague  that  the  "Great  Fire" 
cf  London  broke  out.  In  the  rescue  and  emergency  shelter  work, 

>ve  find  descriptions  of  how  the  Thames  swarmed  with  vessels  trying 
to  carry  away  the  people  and  their  rescued  goods.  Many  people 
fled  to  erect  such  shelter  as  they  could  in  the  hills  of  old  Hamp- 
sted  and  Highgate,  and  the  swampy  places  of  Moorsfield  became  a 
popular  resort.  The  people  bore  their  disaster  heroically  for 
Henry  Oldenburg  writing  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  September  10, 
1666,  says: 

"The  citizens,  instead  of  complaining,  discoursed 
almost  of  nothing  but  of  a survey  for  rebuilding  the  city 
with  bricks  and  with  large  streets."  *1 

+ 1 Ency.  Brit  ..Eleventh  Edition,  Vol.  16,  Page  963. 


■> 


f 


: 


v 


- 


20. 


Christopher  Wren,  as  well  as  other  architects,  presented 
the  king  with  plans  for  rebuilding  the  city.  Wren's  plans  called 
for  - 

"main  thoroughfares  north  and  south,  and  east  and 
west,  to  insulate  all  the  churches  in  conspicuous 
positions,  to  form  the  most  public  places  into  large 
piazzas,  to  unite  the  halls  of  the  twelve  chief  com- 
panies into  one  regular  square  annexed  to  Guildhall 
and  to  make  a fine  quay  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
from  Blackfriars  to  the  Tower.  The  streets  were  to 
be  of  three  magnitudes  - 90  feet,  60  feet  and  30  feet 
wide  respectively.  In  spite  of  the  best  advice,  how- 
ever, the  jealousies  of  the  citizens  prevented  any 
systematic  design  from  being  carried  out;  and  in  con- 
sequence, the  old  lines  were  in  almost  every  case  re- 
tained." 

In  spite  of  this  quotation,  we  know  that  the  influence  of 
Viren,  combined  with  that  of  Evelyn,  was  great  in  determining  the 
plans  of  a new  and  greater  London,  for  to  Wren's  personal  art,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  creation  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Paul  and  the 
lesser, though  even  more  charming,  London  churches  that  play  so  impor- 
tant a part  in  the  plan  of  the  great  city.  To  an  architect  by  the 
name  of  Hooke  fell  the  tasks  of  city-surveyor  and  housing  expert. 
His  tasks  must  have  been  the  humble  and  urgent,  if  less  monumental, 
ones,  for  Evelyn  records  that  the  town  grew  almost  as  large  again 
after  the  Great  Fire  which  caused  a total  loss  of  property  at  that 
time  estimated  to  be  10,730,500.  pounds. 

Other  great  European  fires  that  have  terribly  forced  upon 
nations  the  necessity  of  emergency  housing  have  been  many:  the 

fire  at  Hamburg  (May  5-7,  1842)  made  homeless  one-fifth  of  the 
population,  destroying  nearly  5000  buildings  at  a property  loss  of 
about  30,000,000  marks:  the  Communist  devastation  of  Paris  in  1871 

Henry  Wheatley,  F.S.A.,  History  of  London / medieval  Towns),  Pub* 

3 London  1904.p. 1 16- 


31. 


1 

caused  a property  loss  of  about  160,000,000  francs:  the  firing  of 

Moscow  on  September  IS,  1812,  to  drive  out  the  army  of  Napoleon, 
destroyed  all  but  a tenth  of  the  city  and  swept  out  30,800  homes 
at  a loss,  estimated  by  an  English  authority,  +1  of  30,000,000 
pounds . 

In  America,  the  Great  Fire  of  Boston  (November  9-10, 

1872)  destroyed  the  richest  quarter  of  the  city.  Starting  at  the 
corner  of  Summer  and  Kingston  streets,  it  burned  over  an  area  of 
sixty-five  acres,  destroying  776  buildings  estimated  at  a value  of 
$75,000,000  at  that  time.  In  less  than  four  years  this  burned  dis- 
trict had  been  rebuilt  more  substantially  than  ever.  New  York  in 
1835  and  1845,  Philadelphia  in  1850,  Washington  during  the  war  of 
1812,  and  Baltimore,  Salem  and  San  Francisco  in  recent  years  have 
suffered  great  fire  losses.  The  conflagration  that  stands  out  as 
"The  Greatest  Fire  of  Modern  Times1'  is  that  of  Chicago  in  1871.  On 
the  evening  of  the  eighth  of  October,  it  is  supposed  to  have  start- 
ed from  an  oil  lamp  kicked  over  in  a cow-barn.  Three  and  one-half 
square  miles  (2124  acres)  in  the  heart  of  the  city  were  laid  waste. 
Reports  nave  it  that  25C  lives  were  lost,  38,500  persons  were  mads 
homeless  and  17,500  buildings  were  consumed  with  an  estimated  loss 
oi  Vl  135, 000,000.  Again,  within  a space  not  exceeding  four  years, 
all  the  ourned  area  was  practically  rebuilt,  — not  along  lines 
tnat  can  make  it  otner  than  one  of  the  most  uninteresting,  artisti- 
cally, of  American  cities  for  years  to  come,  - but  with  a speed 
and  material  efficiency  that  shows  how  great  would  have  been  the 
possioili Gies  had  there  been  a public  trained  in  the  appreciation 

* ^ \ Ency  .Brit . 1 1 th.  E • V.16,  p.963-) 


22  . 

of  architectural  values  and.  men  capable  of  advancing  the  tastes 
while  catering  to  public  demands. 

2.  Floods. 

The  emergency  housing  problems  after  floods  and  earth- 
quakes have  been  much  less  frequent  than  those  after  fire.  The 
marked  feature  of  all  such  disasters  is  the  suddenness  and  un- 
expectancy of  the  catastrophe  which  paralyzes  certain  types  of 
human  beings,  brings  out  the  fierce  animal  in  others  and  disorgan- 
izes society  in  the  sudden  claims  for  self-preservation.  Noah 
with  his  ark  is  the  unique  traditional  instance  where  the  emergency 
housing  problem  could  be  materialized  in  advance  of  a flood. 

One  of  the  great  European  disasters  resulting  from  earth- 
quake, fire  and  flood,  was  that  which  overcame  the  cit}*-  of  Lisbon 
on  November  1,  1775.  The  city  was  destroyed  almost  instantly. 
Between  thirty  and-  forty  thousand  people  lost  their  lives  and 
20,000,000  pounds  worth  of  property  was  the  estimated  loss  at  that 
time . 

in  America,  the  destruction  of  the  Pennsylvanian  city  of 
Johnstown  in  1889  by  the  breaking  of  the  dam  confining  an  artifi- 
cial lake,  caused  the  loss  of  more  than  two  thousand  lives  as  a 
mass  of  water  twenty  feet  high  swept  down  the  valley  at  a terrific 
speed,  very  nearly  completely  destroying  the  city.  The  city  was 
quickly  rebuilt  after  a relief  fund  of  nearly  $3,000,000  had  been 
raised  by  popular  subscription.  Neither  the  Johnstown  nc,r  the  later 
Galveston  flood  introduced  much  lasting  thought  upon  the  possibili- 
ties of  emergency  bousing,  and  architecturally,  these  disasters 


. V.' 


"4 


: * 


Relief  Housing  in  the  Tent 
Dayton,  Ohio,  1913* 


See  text,  page  25. 


City . 


- - 


24. 


Clearing  away  the  debris  after 
the  subsidence  of  the  flood- 
Dayton,  Ohio,  1913- 

See  text,  page  25. 


The  Flood  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  March,  1913» 


25. 


offer  no  interest. 

The  f lood*that  inundated  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  the  early  spring 
of  1913  was  remarkable  for  the  small  loss  of  life  from  such  a 
great  disaster  and  the  promptness  with  which  the  people  recovered 
with  a slogan  for  "A  greater,  bigger  Dayton".  The  disaster  led  to 
serious  study  of  the  "Flood  Prevention  of  the  Mississippi  Valley"  *1 
which  will  eventually  lead  to  the  protection  of  hundreds  of  middle 
western  towns  and  their  wealth  of  human  lives  and  material  property, 
Even  though  a large  area  including  the  most  highly  developed  part 
of  the  city  was  inundated  with  rushing  river  water  that  upon  its 
subsidence  left  a reeking  mass  of  mud  and  slimy  detritus,  the  super! 
response  of  the  people  to  cooperate  in  the  cleaning  of  the  city 
and  the  capable  direction  of  relief  by  public  minded  citizens  made 
a sanitary  city  flourish  again  within  the  year  and  gave  an  impetus 
for  better  designed  homes,  improved  municipal  buildings  and  water- 
fronts . 

The  immediate  problem  of  housing  the  people  of  Dayton 

after  the  flood  was  cared  for  with  such  a spirit  of  cooperation 

from  neighboring  towns  that  it  did  not  demand  other  consideration 

beyond  the  tent  cit/^that  was  erected  on  the  grounds  of  the 

National  Cash  Registrer  Company,  and  which  serves  as  an  admirable 

example  of  the  solution  of  the  emergency  shelter  problem.  While 

the  emergency  housing  was  rapidly  solved  in  Dayton,  Hamilton  and 

» 

other  towns,  the  people  were  determined  that  the  disaster  should 

not  occur  again.  The  Miami  Conservancy  District  is  the  result. 

•H-See  illustrations,  pages  23,  24*  See  page  23* 

Miami  Valley  Flood  Prevention  Work,Alvord,  U.of  111 . (q .624 .4, Oh . 3 ^ 
*1.,'. organ,  Arthur  E.,  Chief  Engineer,  Miami  Conservancy  District 
See  Publication  of  S .P  -.Association,  New  Orleans . , "Homes  for 
Working-men" , page  149. 


26. 


Here  the  building  of  five  great  dams  across  the  Miami  Valley  and 
its  tributary  streams  has  introduced  another  Emergency  Housing 
problem  on  account  of  the  several  thousand  men  employed  on  the 
building  of  these  dams.  Camps  have  been  built  that  are  almost 
like  suburban  villages,  picturesquely  and  properly  located  and 
made  up  of  broad-roofed  cottages  of  five  different  types,  - all 
simple  in  design  and  inexpensive  in  construction,  but  combined  to 
make  attractive  and  livable  homes,  models  for  many  a great  enter- 
prise that  claims  the  exacting  attention  of  men  over  a long  period 
of  time. 

3.  Earthquakes. 

Of  the  great  emergency  housing  problems  resulting  from 
earthquakes,  perhaps  that  of  San  Francisco  in  1906  is  the  catas- 
trophe of  greatest  import  of  that  nature  in  modern  times.  While 
earthquakes  had  not  been  uncommon  in  California,  they  had  not 
caused  any  very  serious  trouble  until  the  morning  of  the  18th  of. 
April , 1906.  The  damage  to  buildings  in  San  Francisco  was,  how- 
ever, small  in  comparison  with  the  damage  wrought  by  the  fire 
which  started  soon  after  the  first  shock  and  which,  due  to  the 
breaking  of  the  water  mains,  was  beyond  control  for  nearly  three 
days.  About  half  of  the  population  was  turned  out  of  doors.  An 
estimated  numoer  of  two  hundred  thousand  people  were  camped  in 
u-olden  Gate  Park;  fifty  thousand  in  the  military  reservation.  A 
committee  of  safety  and  emergency  control  was  organized  by  the 
city  authorities  acting  in  conjunction  with  General  Funston.  This 


27. 


body  took  irarnediate  measures  for  the  prevention  of  famine  and 
disease.  Permanent  camps  were  established  for  the  homeless  and 
those  who  could  not  be  removed  to  other  cities.  Within  a week 
about  $10,000,000  had  been  subscribed  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Congress  appropriated  $2,500,000  from  the  National  Treas- 
ury for  relief  shelter, and  foreign  countries  sent  money  and  sup- 
plies. A committee  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  was  put  in  charge  of 
the  relief  work  and  their  reports  of  1908  show  that  $9,225,000  had 
been  expended  for  the  relief  of  the  hungry,  for  the  sick  and  in- 
jured and  for  housing  and  rehabitation  of  individuals  and  families. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  was  an  estimated  loss  of 
$105,000,000  in  buildings  alone,  reconstruction  of  the  burned  area 
began  at  once.  The  great  difficulties  that  confronted  the  re- 
builders was  the  usual  lack  of  cooperation  that  would  permit  of 
benefit  from  the  unique  opportunity  for  an  improved  city  plan. 

Due  to  the  great  demand  and  scarcity  of  labor,  as  well  as  the  ac- 
tion of  the  labor  unions,  wages  rose  to  enormous  rates.  Prices 
of  materials  and  terrific  transport  rates  added  to  the  difficul- 
ties. In  spite  of  all,  within  three  years  San  Francisco  was  again 
a restored  city,  and  in  1915,  she  was  prepared  to  welcome  the  world 
as  her  guests  at  one  of  the  largest  and,  architecturally  at  least, 

one  of  the  most  magnificent  expositions  that  modern  times  have  been 
permitted  tc  witness. 

As  a permanent  restoration  and  as  an  ideal  city  plan,  the 
emergency  housing  and  rebuilding  of  San  Francisco  must,  however, 
appeal  to  one  only  as  a regretable  loss  of  great  opportunities. 


3 


■ 


■ 

• < ■ ■ ■ . r • . . 


- 


f 


■ 


- 


■ 


■ '•  : 


, 


I.  ;n:  .. 

■ ■ * 


' 


. 


28. 


Cyclone  destruction,  Mattoon,  111 
See  text,  page  29- 


29. 


“I 


not  only  for  a beautiful  but  for  a healthfully  progressing  city. 

To  quote  from  a report  of'The  Housing  of  the  Unskilled  Y/age  Earner." 

“If  there  had  been  a national  or  state  system 
of  supplying  credit  for  housing  purposes,  the  San  Fran- 
cisco disaster  would  have  afforded  a wonderful  oppor- 
tunity to  rebuild  the  congested  districts  on  model  lines. 

As  it  was, the  need  of  immediate  shelter  was  so  great,  a-nd 
private  capital  had  been  rendered  so  timid  by  the  earth- 
quake, that  all  bars  were  let  down,  and  even  the  inade- 
quate restrictions  of  the  old  building  code  were  suspended. 

The  result  was  that  tenements  were  built  in  great  numbers, 
covering  one  hundred  per  cent  of  their  lots  and  dark-room 
problems  were  created  which  will  effect  San  Francisco 
for  many  a long  year."  *1 


4.  Cyclone. 

In  May,  1917,  an  unusual  devastation  occured  in  central 
Illinois  when  a cyclone  swept  a quick  and  irregular  course  across 
the  level  prairie,  rendering  the  buildings  of  a small  section  into 
splinters  and  doing  odd  tricks  to  whatever  came  within  its  course. 

A portion  of  the  small  town  of  Mattoon  was  destroyed'.!  An  attempt 

was  made  by  the  Architectural  Department  of  the  University  of  Illi- 

■ 

nois  to  lend  suggestions  in  rehousing  plans  and  designs  for  the 

1 i 

rapid  rebuilding  of  the  stricken  areas.  The  schemes  were  not  exe-  j 
cuted  as  the  inhabitants  were  able  to  find  other  homes  in  the  larger 
part  of  the  town  which  escaped,  or  were  called  to  other  localities 

I 

by  the  great  war  activities  which  were  then  beginning  to  engage 
the  efforts  of  American  industries. 


1 "The  Housing  of  the  Unskilled  Wage  Earner"-,  by  E.;  E.  Wood, 
Pages  20  - 21;  Maqmillan  Company,  Publishers,  1919- 
*2  See  illustrations,  page  28. 


30. 


“Tl 


III.  AMERICA'S  ATTEMPT  TO  SOLVE  THE  EMERGENCY  HOUSING  PROBLEMS 
THROUGH  GOVERNMENTAL  PATRONAGE. 

1.  The  American  Standards  of  "Rights  of  Home"  as  Formulized 
by  Housing  Surveys. 


It  was  during  1917  and  1918  that  abnormal  activities* in- 
troduced by  America's  participation  in  the  World  War,  produced 
the  greatest  emergency  housing  problems  in  this  country.  During 
this  period, millions  of  American  workmen  left  their  former  homes 
and  moved  to  the  neighborhoods  of  new  or  greatly  enlarged  manufact- 
uring plants,  shipyards  or  army  camps,  there  to  work  directly  or 
indirectly  on  the  solution  of  the  gigantic  supply  demands  of  the 
great  war  problem.  They  quickly  overtaxed  the  former,  oftentimes 
barely  adequate,  housing  facilities.  Beds  were  crowded  thickly  into 
small,  poorly  ventilated  rooms,  there  to  be  used  for  three  shifts 
in  each  twenty-four  hours.  Men  became  predominately  animal  as 
they  crowded  one  another  for  sleeping  space.  Profiteering  land- 
lords grew  rich.  Speculative  builders,  even  with  a sense  of 
social  obligation,  could  not  cope  with  the  problem  which  so  soon 
became  far  beyond  their  organization  and  powers  of  credit. 

As  poorly  prepared  as  America  was  to  offer  a solution  of 
the  problem  of  emergency  housing,  she  had  the  experiences  of  Great 
Britain  by  which  to  profit.  She  had  some  few  men  trained  to  a 
comprehension  and  appreciation  of  the  problem,  and,  above  all,  she 
possessed  a civic  sense  that  recognized  the  importance  of  coopera- 
tion and  spontaneity  of  effort.  Housing  committees  had  been  or- 


31. 


ganized  to  study  the  problem  in  many  American  cities.  Delegates 
had  been  abroad  to  study  the  English  Garden  Cities  and  the  German 
tenement  solution.  Health  commissions  and  Social  service  boards 
had  been  active  in  local  and  disconnected  fields.  Such  were  bear- 
ing fruit  as  may  be  seen  by  quoting  from  one  of  many  excellent 
reports . 

The  Housing  Committee  of  the  Minneapolis  Civic  and  Com- 
merce Association  in  September,  1914,  ended  a report  on  housing 
problems  in  Minneapolis  with  these  words: - 

"A  new  spirit  is  developing  in  industry,  a 
spirit  born  of  the  realization  that  all  industry  suf- 
fers through  the  misfortune  of  any  factor.  The  employ- 
er fails  to  prosper  as  his  men  fail  to  prosper.  Bad 
housing  for  the  workman  means  bad  business  for  the  one 
who  hires.  In  the  light  of  this  spirit,  the  primary 
question  is  not  'What  can  the  tenant  afford?'  It  is 
'What  can  Minneapolis  afford?'  If  we  are  to  develop 
in  the  highest  type  of  civilization,  if  industry  is  to 
thrive  permanently,  we  must  first  recognize  as  an  es- 
sential prerequisite  to  the  realization  of  these  high 
ideals,  the  providing  of  home  life  for  every  family, 
rich  or  poor,  that  shall  insure  to  them  their  inalien- 
able rights  of  sanitation,  safety,  ventilation,  privacy, 
sunlight,  space  and  beauty." 

There  have  been  other  admirable  housing  surveys  well 
worth  quoting  if  space  permitted,  such  as  the  reports  of  the 
"New  York  Tenement  House  Commission",  "Housing  Conditions  in 
Chicago"  by  the  School  of  Civics  and  Philantrophy , "Reports  of 
the  Cctlifornian  Commission  of  Immigration  ahd  Housing",  while  the 
report*!  of  John  Nolen  to  the  Bridgeport  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  a 
valuable  contribution.  Reference  should  also  be  made  to  the  ef- 
forts of  Charles  Harris  Whitaker,  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  the 


*1  Nolen,  "More  Houses  for  Bridgeport",  August,  1916,  p.  28. 

I 


■ 


32  . 

American  Institute  of  Architects,  Frederick  L.  Ackerman,  Architect, 
Richard  S.  Childs,  Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Towns, 
N.Y.C.,  and  Edith  Elmer  Wood,  Expert  in  Housing  Legislation, 
Philadelphia,  - all  of  whom  have  done  valiant  work  in  putting  the 
Emergency  Housing  problem  before  the  American  public  in  its  proper 
light  and  proportions. 

Some  notable  prewar  foreign  housing  projects  that  were 
valuable  examples  for  America's  Emergency  Housing  problem,  may  not 
well  be  neglected  in  citing  determining  influences.  Of  these.  Port 
Sunlight  on  the  outskirts  of  Liverpool,  created  by  Sir  William 
Lever,  and  Bournville,  started  by  George  Cadbury,  the  cocoa  manu- 
facturer of  Birmingham,  are  perhaps  most  notable  examples.  In 
Germany,  Alfred  Krupp  began  in  1861  to  build  model  homes  for  his 
employees  and  Margarethenhohe,  on  the  outskirts  of  Essen,  developed 
into  a very  beautiful  housing  scheme  where,  before  the  war,  nearly 
50,000  people  were  housed  by  the  Krupp  undertaking. 

Successful  examples  of  industrial  housing  in  this  country 
that  helped  to  pave  the  way  for  the  War  Emergency  Housing  problem 
had  been  established  in  many,  though  far  too  few,,  places  under  pri- 
vate initiative,  previous  to  1917.  These  were  administered  either 
through  Philanthropic  Trust  Funds,  Limited  Dividend  Companies, 
Cooperative  Building  Companies,  etc.  Mention  may  well  be  made  of 
such  initial  attempts  to  better  housing  conditions  as,  - 

Billercia,  Massachusetts,  Boston  and  Main  R.R.  Shops. 

Eclipse  Park,  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  Fairbank  Morse  Company. 

Forest  Hills,  Long  Island,  N.Y.  (Russel  Sage  Foundation). 

Goodyear  Heights,  Akron,  Ohio,  Goodyear  Rubber  Company. 

Hauto,  Pennsylvania,  Lehigh  Coal  & Navigation  Company. 

— _J 


33. 


Hopedale,  Massachusetts,  Draper  Company. 

Indian  Hill,  Massachusetts,  Norton  Grindling  Company  of 
Worcester . 

Kistler,  Pennsylvania 

Leclairs,  Illinois,  near  St.  Louis. 

Marcus  Hook,  near  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  Viscose  Company 

Morgan  Park,  Duluth,  Minnesota,  Minnesota  Steel  Corporatior 

Nanticoke,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  Lackawanna 
Coal  Company. 

Octavia  Hill  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

Pullman  (1881)  Illinois,  now  incorporated  in  the  city  of 
Chicago. 

Roebling,  New  Jersey,  near  Trenton. 

Titus  Town,  Virginia. 

Torrance,  California. 

It  was  in  August,  1917,  that,  largely  through  the  efforts 
of  Samuel  Gompers,  a subcommittee  on  Labor  of  the  Advisory  Com- 
mission of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  was  appointed  to  form 
a housing  section  with  Philip  Hess  as  chairman.  The  investigation 
reported  a very  serious  situation  rapidly  increasing  in  serious- 
ness as  discontent,  strikes, and  consequental  delay  in  the  comple- 
tion of  ships  and  war  materials  was  more  than  threatened.  On 
October  9,  1917,  the  Council  of  National  Defense  appointed  a hous- 
ing committee  with  Otto  M.  Eidletz  of  New  York,  chairman.  From 
its  report  on  November  2,  we  read,  - 

"It  is  the  opinion  of  the  committee  on  housing 
that  the  existing  emergency  demands  immediate  action 
and  it  is  convinced  that  under  proper  safeguards  the 
Government  shall  give  quick  financial  aid  to  such  indus- 
tires  or  communities  as  can  clearly  demonstrate  their 
right  to  relief." 

Thus  in  a short  time,  although  due  credit  should  be  given 
to  the  workers  who  had  paved  the  way,  there  was  established  govern- 
mental recognition  of  the  necessity  of  aid  in  the  solution  of  the 


housing  problem,  - a recognition  which  under  more  normal  circum- 


34. 


stances  would  have  required  years  of  patient  educational  work. 

In  February,  1918,  Congress  appropriated  $50,000,000  for 
housing  under  the  Shipping  Board,  and  in  May  came  an  appropriation 
of  $60,000,000  (of  which  $10,000,000  was  reserved  by  the  act  for 
Washington,  D.C.)  for  the  Labor  Department  to  use  for  other  war 
workers'  homes.  This  branch  of  the  work  of  the  Labor  Department 
came  under  the  direction  of  Otto  M.  Eidlitz.  Later  a second  ap- 
propriation of  $40,000,000  was  made,  although  Mr.  Eidlitz  had 
asked  that  it  be  $100,000,000.  By  September,  1918,  all  this  seem- 
ingly huge  sum  had  been  allotted  among  about  sixty-five  localities 
for  the  housing  of  the  army  of  civilian  producers  for  the  army  and 
navy. 

Summing  up  the  many  and  varied  requirements  from  a rather 
large  amount  of  literature  upon  the  needs  and  ideals  which  the 
industrial  housing  projets  sought  to  gratify,  it  would  seem  that 
they  may  be  condensed  into  another  less  famous,  though  one  may 
trust  less  alterable,  "fourteen  points".  It  is  concluded  that  the 
requirements  of  "Rights  of  Home"  as  formulized  by  housing  surveys 
would  grant  to  every  normal  family  as  their  just  inheritance  and 
return  for  normal  talent  and  industry  the  following! 

1.  A safe  and  sanitary  home. 

2.  Healthful  and  beneficial  surroudings. 

3.  Rooms  of  sufficient  size  and  number  to  decently 
house  the  members  of  the  family. 

4.  Adequate  sunlight  and  ventilation. 

5.  Ample  and  pure  running  water  inside  the  house. 

6.  Modern  and  sanitary  toilet  conveniences  for  its 
exclusive  use,  located  inside  the  building. 

7.  Privacy. 

8.  Freedom  from  dampness. 

9.  Conveniency  to  work  and  schools. 


35. 


10.  Conveniency  in  the  arrangement  of  the  house. 

11.  Prompt,  adequate  collection  of  all  waste  material. 

12.  Reasonable  fire  protection. 

13*  Colorful  surroundings. 

14*  Rental  not  to  exceed  20%  of  family  income. 

2.  Ordnance  Department  Housing. 

The  first  and  most  urgent  problem  to  confront  the  in- 
dustrial housing  commission  was  the  accomodation  of  the  temporary 
workmen,  men  who  in  large  armies  left  their  families  in  order  to 
work  as  unskilled  laborers  or  as  tradesmen  in  some  center  of  act- 
ivity. The  boarding-house  has  ever  been  too  often  a disruptable 
apology  of  a home  for  this  type  of  worker,  but  even  the  boarding- 
house could  no  longer  attempt  to  accommodate  the  hordes  of  workers 
necessary  to  the  progress  of  war  production.  First,  to  satisfy 
this  want,  the  housing  commission  approved  of  the  erection  in 
various  centers  of  congested  communities,  dormitory  barracks  with 
the  necessary  dining-rooms,  kitchens,  stores,  hospitals,  etc. 
Erected  in  the  quickest  possible  time  under  forced  circumstances, 
this  type  of  housing  can  be  thought  of  as  having  no  lasting 
value.  Architecturally,  only  the  matter  of  highest  conveniency 
called  for  the  skill  of  the  designer  in  the  matter  of  plan 
arrangement  and  disposition  of  units.  Ordnance  Department  Hous- 
ing, as  this  type  of  building  was  classified,  was  near  akin  to 
the  planning  of  military  camps  themselves  and  hardly  more  perma- 
nent, either  in  its  need  or  construction. 

Notable  examples  where  Ordnance  Department  Housing 
came  to  play  a.  most  important  part  in  the  war's  industrial  work 


36. 


are  cited  in  the  following  list. 


ORDNANCE  DEPARTMENT  HOUSING 


Pla  ce 

Composition 

Man  Capa 

citv 

Bethlehem,  Pa. 

16  dorm.,  dining  hall 

960 

Brunswick,  Ga. 

636  ds.,  12  dorm8.,cafe,  etc. 

1600 

Edgewood,  N.J. 

Dorms.,  barracks 

5000 

Erie,  Pa. 

738  ds. , apts. , dorms. , etc. 

2200 

Hammondton,  N.J. 

Dorms . , barracks 

1550 

Mays  Landing,  N.J. 

193  ds.,46  dorms., sch.,  etc. 

2776 

Morgan,  N.J. 

Ds. ,apts. , dorms. , com. bldg. ,etc. 

1500 

Muscle  Shoals,  Ala. 

1300  ds.,sch.,  stores,  etc. 

2600 

Neville  Island,  Pa. 

12  dorms.,  stores,  etc. 

3072 

Nitro,  W.  Va. 

1850  ds.,33  dorms.,  schs.,  etc. 

5400 

Old  Hickory,  Tenn. 

1703  ds.,33  dorms.,  etc. 

10302 

Penniman,  Va. 

448  ds.  and  apts.,  11  dorms., etc. 

5918 

Perryville,  Md. 

87  ds.,  3 com. bldgs.,  etc. 

220 

Sheffield,  Ala. 

300  ds.,  2 dorms.,  hospital 

650 

Tullytown,  Pa. 

14  ds.,  8 dorms.,  hospital 

230 

Woodbury,  N.J, 

12  dorms.,  12  converted  houses 

850 

3.  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  Housing  Program. 

It  was  toward  the  attainment  of  the  fourteen  points  of 
"Rights  of  Home"  that  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  housing  pro- 
jects strove.  Many  of  the  schemes  had  already  been  begun  for  in- 
dependent companies  of  ship-builders  or  manufacturers  by  architec- 
tural firms  that  were  prepared  to  give  their  best  services  to  the 
important  work.  The  governmental  support  and  cooperation  enabled 
them  to  promote  their  schemes  at  a more  rapid  pace  than  could 
otherwise  have  been  done.  While  the  necessary  speed  in  the  design 
and  haste  in  the  construction  upon  a "cost  plus"  basis,  made  con- 
ditions far  from  ideal  toward  producing  the  best  of  industrial 
town-plans,  yet  the  results  at  the  time  of  the  armistice,  after 
which  further  governmental  support  was  curtailed,  shewed  that  a,  de- 
* ds . -dwellings : apts . -apartment  houses : dorms • -dormitories . 


37. 


cided  advance  had  been  made  in  the  art  of  industrial  housing  under 
emergency  conditions,  an  advance  beyond  anything  that  had  previous- 
ly been  seen  in  this  country. 

The  list  of  developments  undertaken  by  the  Industrial 
Housing  Board  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  are  here  given 
alpnabet ically  under  the  name  of  the  place  where  the  houses  were 
built,  together  with  the  names  of  the  architects  in  immediate 
charge  of  the  separate  projects  and  a brief  summary  of  the  problem. 


• 

00 

to 

' \\ 

| 

EMERGENCY  FLEET 

CORPORATION  HOUSING  PROJECTS 

Place 

Architect 

Broblem 

Bath,  Maine- 

R.  Clipston  Sturgis, 
Boston. 

•ft 

90  ds . ,6  dorms, 
with  mess-hall  to 
accommodate  288 
men . 

x Bristol,  Pa. 

Carrol  H.  Pratt, 
New  York  City- 

t 

42  bachelor  quar- 
ters for  840  men; 
14  boarding  houses 
for  840  men;  20 
apts.  for  250;  258 
dwellings;  one 
school . 

Candem , N . J . 

Electus  Litchfield, 
New  York  City- 

2,107  ds. 

Chester,  Pa. 

Simon  and  Bassett 
Ed.  Brumbaugh, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

227  ds . . ,1  board- 
ing house  for  25; 
25  apts.  for  219; 
1 hotel. 

Chester,  Pa. 

Earnest  Flagg, 
New  York  City- 

548  ds . 

Essington,  Pa. 

C.  W.  Braser, 
New  York  City. 

200  ds. , 1 apt. 

Essington,  Pa. 

Burling,  Okie  & Ziegler, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

6 dorms,  for  500; 
Mess-hall  & re- 
creation rooms. 

Glouster,  N.  J. 

Bissell  & Sinkler, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

500  £s. 

Jacksonville,  Fla. 

H.  T.  Klutho, 

165  ds. j 3 hoard- 
ing houses  for  86 

Lorain,  Ohio 

Abram  Garfield 
Cleveland,  Ohio 

244  ds. 9 2 apts. 

1 school. 

-::-ds  • -dwellings : apts  • - 

apartment  houses : -dorms  - - 

dormitories . 

' 


‘a. 


n' 





39. 

Place 

Manitowoc,  Wis. 

Architect 

Earle  Frank  Miller, 
Manitowoc,  Wisconsin. 

Problem 

100  d s •.  , 1 dorm, 
for  300. 

Newport  News,  Va. 

F.  Y.  Joannes, 
New  York  City. 

50  ds  . , 4 apts . 
for  372. 

Pensacola,  Fla. 

200  ds . . 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

George  M.  Barlett, 
New  York,  New  York, 

960  ds . , 16  dormi 
for  800. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

Kilham  & Hopkins, 
Boston. 

300  ds . . ,8  dorms 
for  400;  1 school 

Port  Jefferson,  N.  Y. 

A.  C.  Bossom, 
New  York  City- 

9 ds..,  1 dorm, 
for  400. 

Savannah,  Ga. 

200  ds . , , 1 hotel 
for  180;  boarding 
house  for  255. 

Sparrows  Point,  Md. 

E.  L.  Palmer,  Jr., 
Baltimore,  Md. 

827  ds . . , school, 
stores,  etc. 

Vancouver,  Wash. 

100  ds  * and  * 
hotel . 

Wilmington,  Del. 

Ballinger  & Perrot, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

506  ds . > 3 apts . 
for  51,  community 
bldg.,  school. 

Wyandotte,  Michigan 

200  ds- . 

* ds.  - dwellings;,  apt 

s*~  apartment  houses’* 

dorm.  - dormitory. 

) 


. . . 


40. 


Naturally  each  project  offered  a separate  problem  due  to 
the  requirements  of  housing,  the  class  of  people  who  were  to  oocupy 
them,  the  available  site  with  all  its  numerous  and  diverse  elements 
of  soil,  contours,  natural  and  economic  setting,  climate,  tradi- 
tions of  style  and  all  the  many  other  conditions  that  enter  into 
architectural  design  in  such  a diversity  of  places. 

In  spite  of  this  diversity  to  be  found  in  each  of  the 
twenty  odd  projects  of  the  larger  order  which  were  undertaken  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Housing  Board  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corpora- 
tion, a detailed  description  of  one  will  suffice  to  explain  some 
of  the  chief  characteristics  and  common  problems  of  all.  The  prob- 
lem that  confronted  the  Chester  Shipbuilding  Company  of  Chester, 
Pennsylvania,  may  be  taken  as  a typical  example,  not  that  its 
solution,  though  apparently  successful,  was  superior  or  more  worthy 
of  notice  than  many  others,  but  because  of  the  writer's  larger 
responsibility  and  interest  in  the  solution  of  this  design. 

Early  in  1217,  a rough  census  of  the  town  of  Chester  gave 
an  estimate  of  comfortable  living  accommodations  for  about  40,000 
persons.  Within  six  months  of  that  time,  it  was  estimated  that 
nearly  twice  that  number  of  people  were  trying  to  live  in  these 
same  quarters.  The  simple  cause  of  this  congestion  was  the  fact 
that  the  Chester  Shipbuilding  Company,  the  Sun  Shipbuilding  Company., 
and  other  great  companies  producing  urgently  needed  war  materials, 
were  bringing  people  to  the  already  thickly  settled  Delaware  river 
valley,  and  that  this  same  demand  for  laborers  of  all  kinds  had  in- 
terrupted even  the  inadequate  growth  of  housing  facilities.  The 


41 


FIR.ST  FLOOIC  PLAN 


BUCKMAN  VILLAGE  ^HESTEK  PA 

UNITED  STATES  s H 1 £ A°TA 

EMF  REGENCY  FLEET  COLPOKAT  R 

™AUm  SIMON  ^ BASSETT  RETAINED  ARCHITECTS  PHI  LA  PA_ 


See  text,  page  46. 


43. 


FIBCST  FLOOR-  PLAN  SECOND  FLOOR- PLAN 


BUCKMAN  VILLAGE  CHESTER.  PA 
UNITED  STATES  SHIPPING  BOAKD 
EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPOICAT  ION 

BRUMBAUGH  ' SIMON  S'  BASSETT  RETAINED  ARCHITECTS  PHILA  PA 


See  text, page  46 


43 


T OUR,'  PAMILY  APARTMENT  'HOUSE 

Scale  t — i i — i i — 1 )■  i i | i r i i I i i .i  i.~^_  Tee i- 


FIBlST  fLOOB.  PLAN 


5ECOND  FLOOB-  PLAN 


BUCKMAN  VILLAGE  CHESTER  PA 
UNITED  STATES  SHIPPING  B OAKD 
EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPORATION 

BRUMBAUGH  ~ SIMON  Cr  BASSETT  RETAINED  ARCHITECTS  PHILA  I'A 


See  text,  page  46 


l 


44 


SEVEN  FAMILY  ROW  HOUSES 


J 


T-'j  ~ 

•/U 

nT \\ 

! i 

i! 

it 

FIB.ST  riOOJ.  PLAN 

BUCKMAN  VILLAGE  CHESTER.  PA 
UNITED  STATES  SHIPPING  BOABJD 
EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPORATION 

BRJJMBAUGU  ' SIMON  Cr  BASSETT  RETAINED  ARCHITECTS  PHILA  PA 


See  text,  page  46. 


45 


PIKAT  TLOOB-.  PLAN  SSCOKD  HiOOK_PI.AN 


THE  EMERGENCY  TIEET  CORPORATION  U-S-S-B 
HOUSING  AT  CHESTER.  PA 

B KU  UBAUGH  ' SIMON  AND  BASSIIT  AB.CHITICTS  PHILADIIPHIA  PA 


See  text, 


page 


46 


46. 


crowded  and  sickening  conditions  under  which  men  and  even  families 
were  forced  to  live  was  fast  breeding  social  disease  manifest  in 
strikes,  walk-outs,  inefficient  labor  and  crime,  especially  among 
the  lower  class  of  unskilled  laborers. 

A farm  site  of  some  forty  acres  situated  just  outside 
the  city  limits,  but  easily  accessible  to  town,  river  and  ship- 
yards, seemed  to  suggest  a partial  solution  for  building  area. 

Upon  this  plot  it  was  decided  to  erect  houses  that  would  tend  to 
ease  the  congestion  to  some  degree  in  the  shortest  time  consistent 
with  studied  design  and  permanent  building.  The  site  was  an  ir- 
regular , rolling,  partially  wooded  farm  whose  contours  immediately 
suggested  curved  streets  to  accommodate  the  houses  and  the  traffic. 

The  problem  was  to  house  comfortably  as  many  families  as  possible 

roomed 

in  four-room  apartments,  fiveMir  six-roomed  semi-detached  or  group- 
ed houses,  with  boarding  house,  dining  room  and  club  house  for 
single  men.  With  two^type  plans,  one  for  five-room  and  one  for 
six-room  houses,  by  means  of  combinations  of  two,  four,  five,  six 
and  seven  houses  in  attached  groups,  interesting  combinations  of 
units  were  formed  and  placed  in  such  a way  as  to  give  great  variety 
throughout  the  whole  village.  The  Pennsylvania  farm  house,  colonial 
style  of  architecture  was  chosen  for  the  design.  A variation  in 
the  use  ox  brick,  stucco  and  frame,  with  painted  shutters  and  trim, 
permitted  further  interest,  while  gently  curving  streets  and  a 
studied  irregularity  of  house  line,  though  perhaps  unnatural  and 
thus  forced  in  a factory  made  village,  did  prevent  the  monotony  so 

common  to  many  housing  projects. 

* See  illustrations,  pages  41-45,  inclusive. 

' *"**"  "*"  • i i .mi  i.  — | 


47. 


1 


Careful  study  produced  an  arrangement  of  237  dwellings, 
one  boarding-house  for  twenty-five,  twenty-three  apartment  for 
319,  one  hotel  and  a club  house,  all  with  ample  streets  and  pri- 
vate yards,  wooded  playground  area  on  the  lowland  and  a general 
preservation  of  the  rather  numerous  fine  specimens  of  forest  trees 
The  streets  were  of  two  widths  (40 ' and  60'  in  relation  to  impor- 
tance) with  no  grades  exceeding  ten  per  cent.  The  streets  gave 
direct  access  to  the  front  of  every  house  while  12*  paved  service 
alleys  connected  the  rear  yards  of  each  attached  house  with  the 
main  thoroughfares.  "Buckman  Village"  was  the  name  given  to  the 
development « 

4.  Specific  Architectural  Lessons  Learned. 

Judging  from  the  experience  of  the  Chester  development 
and  a survey  of  other  big  undertakings  of  similar  nature,  a series 
of  general  deductions  may  well  be  made  relative  to  nearly  any  or 
all  emergency  housing  schemes  that  are  to  have  permanent  results 
of  any  long  duration. 


1.  Selection  of  land  should  be  made  in  secret 
to  prevent  speculation. 

2.  The  site,  usually  suburban  or  open  country, 
should  be  within  walking  distance, ( 1 5 minutes) , from  the 
factory  or  center  of  employment  • Cheap  and  rapid  transfer 
facilities  should  be  provided  from  greater  distances,  al- 
though easy  walking  distance  is  preferable. 


3.  The  land  value  should  be  low,  ($500  or  less 
or  unskilled  workers,  $1,000  an  acre  for  skilled  workers.) 
The  cost  of  public  utilities,  sewers,  sidewalks,  water, 
curbing  and  rough _ grading  amount  to  about  $3,000  per 
acre  at  prewar  prices.  Landscaping  to  the  extent  of 
iimshed  grading,  turfing,  seeding  and  planting  may  be 
done  conservatively  for  less  than  $4,000":s  The  house  con- 


* Estimate,  Philadelphia,  1918. 

~ — 111  ■■■■■■■■  ■■■.  ■ Bggaaaggga  1 1 — — — — — — — « 


48. 


struction  under  normal  conditions  ought  to  come  to 
about  .30j6  per  cubic  foot,  which  would  make  the  aver- 
age development  per  acre  cost  about  $30,000.  Any  such 
figures  must  at  best  be  far  from  definite  in  their 
generality. 

4.  Large  tracts  (100  - 200  acres)  give  better 
opportunities  for  providing  a complete  local  community 
with  open  spaces,  shops,  amusements,  public  buildings, 
etc.,  and  reduce  the  average  cost  of  public  utilities 
such  as  water,  sewerage  disposal,  etc. 

5.  The  contours  of  a site  should  be  respected. 
With  sharp  topography,  the  development  is  apt  to  be  in- 
convenient and  costly;  with  flat  topography  the  result 
is  in  danger  of  being  monotonous  and  ill  drained;  a 
medium  condition  of  contour  becomes  most  satisfactory. 
Reserve  flat  areas  for  factory  sites,  broken  or  marsh 
lands  for  parks  and  public  reservations. 


6.  Thoroughfares:-  The  location  of  streets 
and  roads  becomes  one  of  the  first  considerations  of 
a town  layout,  influenced  as  they  usually  are  by  pre- 
existing streets  and  topography.  Upon  the  roads  depend 
the  profitable  use  and  development  of  the  property.  The 
main.  streets  should  be  broader,  more  directly  connect- 
ing important  points  , than  the  local  streets  which  are 
secondary,  forty  feet  from  property. line  to  property 
line  being  sufficient  for  the  later.  Group  houses 
usually  necessitate  service  alleys  which  in  all  other 
cases  should  be  avoided.  1 (See  pages  50,  52.) 

? • Shape  and  size  of  blocks:  - The  streets  di- 
vine the  whole  plot  into  blocks  which  may  well  be  vary- 
ing in  shape  and  size,  although  rectangular  shapes  work 
out  to  better  advantage.  A block  700  feet  long  by  200 
feet  deep  may  be  given  as  an  average  size.  (See  pages  50,52) 

8*  Shape  and  sizes  of  lots:  - The  proportions 
naturally  depend  upon  the  blocks.  A minimum  of 
lot  widtns  ought  to  be  15  - 16  feet  for  group  buildings 
'as  no  Plan  has  yet  been  devised  where  convenient  living 
space  can  be  arranged  in  less),  25  - 30  feet  for  semi- 
detacned  houses,  40-50  feet  for  detached  dwellings.  (Page55) 

. 9 . Number  of  houses  per  acre:  - This  naturally 

depends  much  upon  the  type  of  the  house.  For  houses 
ouilt  in  rows  or  groups,  18  houses  per  acre  ought  to  be 


*m!U'  ^ousing  Ordnance  Data.  Journal  A.  I. A.  , Vols.  6, 7 >8*  1918 
Tnese^data  noted  from  directions  issued  by  Housing- board. 


49. 


the  limit;  while  for  detached  houses,  5-7  per  acre 
would  be  the  maximum.  Minimum  space  between  buildings 
ought  to  be  16  feet,  - between  backs  of  houses  50  feet. 

10.  Types  of  houses:  - Many  conditions  of  cos^, 
standards,  locality,  customs  and  traditions  enter  into 
the  house  types,  but  it  is  agreed  that  American  standards 
of  family  life  ought  to  demand  as  a minimum  for  a home 
4 rooms,— -parlor,  kitchen,  2 bedrooms  and  bath,  though  a 
five-room  house  is  preferable  with  three  bedrooms,  allow- 
ing separate  rooms  for  older  children  of  different  sexes. 
^See  pages  41-45,  53,54,56.) 

With  this  brief  consideration  of  some  of  the  more  essen- 
tial features  for  the  solution  of  the  emergency  bousing  problem 
provoked  by  the  industrial  changes  within  our  civil  life,  there 
comes  the  hope  that  the  work  has  but  begun.  May  the  future  be 
prepared  to  meet  the  emergency  and  in  that  preparedness  produce 
a stronger,  more  durable,  more  beautiful  fibre  for  our  national 
fabric.  For,  to  quote  the  words  of  the  late  Secretary  of  Labor, 
the  vital  aspect  of  the  whole  problem  is  plainly  given  in  Mr. 
Wilson's  words:  - 

"The  man  who  owns  his  home  is  the  least  suscept- 
abie  to  the  so-called  Bolshevist  doctrines  and  is  about 
the  last  man  to  join  in  the  industrial  disturbances  fo- 
mented by  the  radical  agitators.  Owning  a home  gives  a 
man  an  added  sense  of  responsibility  to  the  national 
and  local  government  that  makes  for  the  best  type  of 
citizenship." 


■ 


50 


The  solution  of  an 
Industrial  Housing  pro- 
blem, typical  of  the 
Emergency  Housing 
brought  about  oy  tne 
economic  conditions 
of  war  production. 


Ballinger  and  Perrot, 
Architects  and 
Engineers . 

Phil  * a and  New  York. 
(See  6 and  7,  page  48) 


51 


Elevation  of  preceeding  plan, 
used  as  illustration  of  t e 
Emergency  Housing  of  Indust- 
rial Armies.  Used  by  kind 
permission  of  Ballinger  and 
Perrot,  Architects  and  Engi- 
neers, Phila.  and  New  York. 

(See  text,  page  48) 


— 


. ■ 


52. 


2nd  type  of  Industrial  village  to  solve  the  Emergency  Housing 
Problem  produced  by  abnormal  growth  of  industry. 

American  Viscose  Go.,  Marcus  Hook,  Pa. 

Ballinger  and  Perrot,  Architects  and  Engineers,  Phila.  and  N.Y. 


(See  text,  items  6,7,8,  page  48.) 


r 


53 


H(X'J) 


HOOP 


ROOM 


DOWN 

HALL 


C LOS 


CLO.3 


I)  UVN 

HALL 


BED  ROOM 
iGo'miV 


BED,  R 0.0  AY 
i h'o**ik.' 


B E D ROOM 
n-fc  » ii;o’ 


KITCHEN 
— srA  i i-o' 


LIVING  'ROOM  - 


DOWN 


DIKING  ROOM 


D INI  NIL  LOOM 


PORCH 

e’-oVn-o’ 


PORCH 

e'o"«ii'o' 


Plan  of  six~room^  serai “detached  house,  a type 
largely  used  in  Industrial  Housing  groups  . 

(See  text,  page  49.) 


SECOND  FLOOR.  PLAN 


54 


J i 

At 

SLCOXD  FLOOR  PLAX 


2nd.  type,  6- roomed.,  semi-detached,  house  used 
in  Industrial  Housing  scheme . 

(See  text,  item  10,  page49- ) 


55 


BLOCK 

Scale  If  init-  - 


PLAN 

E =3" Feet 


NEWBURGH  N*Y 

JNITED  STATES  SHIPPING  BOARD 
:me regency  fleet  corporation 


Plan  of  typical  smaller  Emergency  Village. 
(See  text,  item  8,  page  48) 


56 


DETACHED  HOUSE 


Scale  tnu.l.  t ■ 1 -1-  Feel 


SAVANNAH 
UNITED  STATES  S 
EMERGENCY  FLEE 


GEO  KG  I A 
hipping  BOARD 
T CORPORATION 


Type  of  four-room  detached  house,  found 
to  be  best  adapted  to  quick  construction 
in  better  type  of  Industrial  Emergency 
Housing . 


(See  text, 


item  10,  page  49.) 


57. 


IV.  AN  ATTEMPT  AT  THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  EMERGENCY  HOUSING  PROBLEM 
IN  THE  WAR  DEVASTATED  REGIONS  OF  NORTHERN  FRANCE  AND  BELGIUM. 

Leaving  the  American  problem  of  Emergency  Housing,  caus- 
ed as  it  has  been  either  by  natural  disaster  or  economic  and 
social  revolution,  there  will  next  be  considered  a more  dramatic 
aspect  of  the  housing  problem  as  brought  about  by  the  devastation 
of  war.  Probably  never  before  in  history  has  so  vast  an  area 
with  so  many  thickly  populated  towns  been  so  ruthfully  and  thor- 
oughly devastated  by  man's  heartless  ingenuity  as  may  be  witness- 
ed in  the  areas  of  Northern  France  and  Belgium  as  a result  of  the 
World  War  of  1914-18,  This  is  not  the  time,  nor  is  there  space, 
even  to  refer  to  the  many  authorities  who  have  cited  the  causes 
and  effects  of  the  great  war.  Only  will  it  be  stated  that  at 
the  signing  of  the  Armistice  on  November  11,  1918,  in  the  after- 
math  that  awaited  the  exhausted  gleaners  of  France  and  Belgium, 
there  was,  as  a rough  estimate,  200,000  totally  wrecked  houses, 

_v.  i 

about  1,000  parish  churches  wrecked  beyond  repair,  1,800  schools 
and  public  buildings  battered  beyond  recognition,  8/300  square 
miles  of  land  that  had  to  be  cleared  of  war  refuse,  barbed  wire, 

unexploded  shells,  uncontrolled  weeds,  and  reclaimed  from  trench- 

2 

es  and  shell  holes  into  the  fertile  fields  of  old.* 

(See  illustrations,  pages  59>60.) 

2 

"Annuaire  Statist ique  de  la  France,  1917,  values  the  entire 
house  property  of  France  at  $11,900,000,000  (dollars). 
$600,000,000  at  prewar  prices  or  say  $1,250,000,000  at  the 
present  time  is  Keynes  estimate  for  the  value  of  destroyed 
house  property  of  France." 


58. 


With  landmarks  lost,  traditions  unhallowed,  trades  and  occupations 
dispelled,  families  killed,  lost  or  scattered  to  the  four  winds, 
the  houses  and  villages  literally  shot  off  the  face  of  the  earth, - 
here  was  an  emergency  housing  problem  to  be  written  with  EMERGENCY 
in  the  boldest  type,  > *% • 

*1 (Belgium  wealth.  1913  Report  of  Finance  Ministry  of  Belgium, - 
Building  wealth  - $1,175,000,000. 

Building  loss  - $ 750,000,000. 

John  Maynard  Keynes,  Fellow  of  Kings  College,  Cambridge ; - 
Deputy  for  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  on  Supreme  Economic 
Council . ) 


*2 ("The  total  property  losses  inflicted  upon  Belgium  have  been 

estimated  at  between  $6,755,000,000  and  $7,600,000,000.  

Equally  systematic  was  the  destruction  in  the  invaded  dis- 
tricts of  France  which  comprised  eleven  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous departments.  There  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Germans 
2,554  communes  with  a population  of  nearly  4,000,000.  About 
8,000  square  miles  of  the  agricultural  lands  were  laid  waste, 
and  500,000  buildings  damaged,  of  which  350,000  were  complete- 
ly destroyed.  In  over  500  of  these  communes  the  ruins  will 
have  to  be  razed  to  the  ground  to  permit  of  reconstruction. 
This  is  true  of  Arras,  Albert,  Compeigne,  Rheims,  Hazebrouck 

and  Bethume . It  is  reported  that  nearly  1,500 

schools,  1^00  churches,  337  public  buildings  and  over  1,000 
industrial  plants  were  completely  destroyed.  Railroads, 
bridges,  power-plants  and  other  public  utilities  were  system- 
atically put  out  of  business." 

Ernest  L.  Bogart,  -"Direct  and  Indirect  Costs  of  the  Great 
War!,'  Oxford  University  Press,  35  West  Thirty-second  Street, 
N.Y.C.) 


It  , 


...  • 


• • 


59 


* Typical  street  scene  after 
the  refuse  had  been  removed. 


a.  Hotel  de  Ville. 


Hheimis , typical  of  the  larger  destroyed 
cities  of  Northern  France. 

(See  text, page  57  ) 


c The  cathedral  from  the  choir 


from  the  nave . a 


60. 


d.  Dun  sur  Meuse. 


I 


Photographs  of  destroyed  churches  in  the  Meuse,  Northern  France 
(See  text,  pap;e  57-)  


. 


. 


61. 


The  housing  problem  in  France  and  Belgium  became  a dif- 
ficult one  immediately  after  the  German  forces  advanced, forcing 
the  civilian  populace  to  flee  in  front  of  their  shell  fire.  The 
terrified  inhabitants,  evacuating,  often  within  a few  hours  notice 
in  front  of  advancing  armies,  the  homes  and  villages  that  had  been 
the  orbit  of  their  little  universe  for  a lifetime,  taking  with 
them  only  the  least  bit  of  their  goods  and  chattels,  oftentimes 
leaving  their  beloved  ones  dying  or  freshly  buried,  - they  were 
the  subjects  for  themes  of  great  tragedies,  the  most  intense  per- 
haps that  human  experience  can  afford.  Once  beyond  the  danger 
line,  it  was  the  problem  of  the  plucky  refugee  to  adapt  himself, 
or  more  usually  herself,  to  the  new  environment  of  an  already 
overtaxed  neighborhood,  to  a foreign  people  as  the  Belgians  in 
Holland,  Normandy  or  England,  or  to  almost  as  new  conditions  as 
the  French  of  the  North  found  in  other  parts  of  their  own  coun- 
try. Huddled  into  the  crowded  cities  and  villages,  - especially 
those  near  the  war  areas,  - the  refugees  made  living  conditions 
far  from  ideal  for  their  hosts  or  for  their  miserable  selves. 

Labor  disorganization,  poverty,  sickness,  discouragement  and  loss 
of  morale  were  the  natural  outcome.  The  problem  was  forced  upon 
the  municipal  and  welfare  organizations  in  drastic  terms.  At- 
tempts were  made  to  find  temporary  quarters  for  civilians,  al- 
though in  war  the  army  must  come  first,  the  rights  of  civilians 
being  a distant  second.  Most  of  the  available  funds  and  building 
material  had  to  go  to  the  all  too  poorly  equipped  and  sheltered 
soldiery . 


3 


. 


. . 


. 

; 


. . ! 

. 


. 


. , ; 

• 

• 

. 


• 

■ 

. • ...  • 

.. 

• ‘ ' • ' 


' 


. 


. 


. ' . .. 


To  house  the  refugee  colonies  after  every  available 
house  in  the  city  or  village  had  been  filled,  schools,  churches, 
"aziles"  and  other  public  buildings  were  converted  as  well  as  pos- 
sible into  "abris"  or  hotels.  Next,  large  barracks  of  the  quickly 
mountable  type  were  erected  to  serve  as  shelter,  home  or  hospital. 
These  necessitated  strict  organization  and  control, for  society  at 
large  is  seldom  ready  for  communal  existence  in  too  close  quarters; 
and  it  takes  a rare  and  tried  set  of  individuals  who  can  live 
peacefully  and  prosperously  in  a cramped  and  common  home.  A re- 
fugee populace,  of  all  ranks  and  interests  and  ages,  of  both 
sexes,  heart-broken,  discouraged,  disconsolate,  are  hardly  the 
most  ideal  material  for  such  a socialistic  experiment.  While 
communal  huts  are  a first  emergency  means  of  relief,  they  ought 
always  to  be  conducted  as  organized  hostels,  no  matter  how  poor 
the  accommodation,  and  put  under  a responsible  manager  who  can 
enforce  daily  cleaning  and  rigid  rules  of  order. 

2.  Communal  Hostels. 

The  communal  hostel  became  a common  feature  in  the  lives 
of  refugees  and  relief  workers  during  the  four  years  of  war  and 
even  after  the  armistice  when  there  was  an  even  greater  migratory 
population,  especially  in  France.  All  the  larger  railway  stations 
became  centers  of  an  ever  moving,  ever  wretched  mass  of  humanity 
that  fear  or  hunger  or  the  military  regulations  had  forced  on, 
whither  they  scarcely  knew  and  often  little  cared,  were  there 
but  some  relief  workers  on  hand  to  steer  them  toward  some  steaming 


' 


' .■  IA  . : 


. 

. 


.. 


, 


. 


' ' . 


' 


. 

. . 

. 

. 

t - 

63. 


I 

soup  and  a place  to  lay  their  aching  bodies.  Every  "gare"  wait- 

their 

ing  room  became  filled  with  masses  of  disorganized  humanity  and/ 
baggage  and  babies.  Barracks  must  need  be  quickly  provided  where 
food  could  be  administered  to  the  faint  and  hungry,  medical  re- 
lief to  the  ill  and  injured,  and  some  place  where  straw  pallets 
might  be  placed, or  blankets  distributed  to  ease  the  aching  bones 
and  sooth  the  dreadful  dreams  of  old  men,  heart-broken  women  and 
tender  children  who  had  borne  for  days  the  horrors  of  forced 
marches  or  crowded  box  cars. 

3.  The  Problem  in  the  Marne  and  Meuse. 

(The  accounts  compiled  from  the  author's  personal  diary 
and  notes  of  personal  experiences  in  the  Marne  and  Meuse  may  have 
some  value  in  throwing  light  upon  the  emergency  housing  of  the 
war  stricken  civilians,  - the  first  showing  a solution  without 
preparation,  the  later  a case  where^prcf i ting  by  the  former, 
the  problem  was  more  successfully  met  by  studied  preparation.) 

Early  in  November,  1918,  the  civilian  population  of  a 
large  section  of  the  department  of  the  Meuse  that  had  been  within 
the  German  lines  during  a greater  part  of  the  war,  was  left 
stranded  by  the  sudden  retreat  of  the  German  forces 
and  the  advance  of  the  French  and  American  armies.  Winter  with 
its  continual  rains  was  well  along.  The  region, torn  and  retorn  by 
the  fire  of  advancing  and  retreating  armies, of fered  scarcely 
shelter  or  food  for  much  but  the  flocks  of  scavanger  "corbeaux". 


i 


64. 


The  armies  needed  the  shelter  that  the  few  unshattered  villages 
could  provide.  The  French  military  undertook  to  evacuate  the 
civilians,  herding  up  the  wretched  people  like  animals  into  box 
cars  which,  after  a couple  of  days  of  hesitating  and  bumping 
itinerary,  deposited  them  near  the  "prefecture"  of  the  Meuse, 
there  to  be  sorted  out,  classified,  and  disposed  of  as  a kind 
Providence  might  decree. 

As  the  military  deposited  them  at  the  rate  of  from  fifty 
to  eight  hundred  per  day  for  a space  of  several  weeks,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  provision  of  a ration  of  carrots,  meat  and 
bread,  considered  their  responsibility  complete,  it  remained  with 
a few  civilian  volunteers  to  cope  with  the  housing  situation  as 
well  as  possible.  Fortunately,  a large  insane  asylum  located  but 

three  kilometers  from  Bar  le  Due,  the  prefecture  of  the  Meuse,  had 

remained 

been  vacated  upon  the  German  advance,  but/' undestroyed.  By  placing 
straw  ticks  closely  together  upon  the  floors  of  the  great  empty 
halls,  as  many  as  three  thousand  people  could  be  accommodated  per 
night,  while  the  great  kitchen  and  refectory  did  service  as  a 
feeding  station.  Other  wards  with  beds  were  converted  into  hospi- 
tals for  men  and  women.  Daily  medical  clinics  for  dressing  wounds, 
c 

absjpsses,  sores  and  dispensing  drugs  and  clothes  were  established  in 
the  crowded  quarters.  Thus  a sort  of  community  existence  for  a 
continually  changing  population  was  established  to  maintain  life 
with  just  a small  degree  of  comfort,  at  least,  for  a mass  of  people 
afflicted  with  mal-nuitition,  abuse,  disease  and  all  the  loss  of 
morale  that  so  quickly  accompanies  physical  disabilities  among 


f 


. 


' 


- 

• •- 


• V 


. 

. 

. 

..  .. 

* 

. 

• 

• 

• 

. i 

> 

. 

' . 


. 


• 

65. 


young  and  old.  In  such  a regime,  disinfectants  needed  to  play 
an  important  part.  The  halls  needed  to  be  cleaned  out  daily,  - 
a difficult  task  with  great  numbers  of  old  and  partially  sick 
people  wearied  with  long  trips,  - the  straw  mats  collected, and  the 
floors  and  walls  washed  out  with  carbolic  water;  sulphur  burned 
where  rooms  could  be  emptied  of  people  and  sealed;  surplus  bag- 
gage, of  which  refugees  always  seem  to  have  an  unwholesome  and  di- 
versified assortment , kept  out  of  the  buildings.  In  spite  of  all 
that  could  be  done  for  order  and  sanitation  with  limited  help  and 
supplies,  disease  broke  out  and  much  suffering  and  many  deaths 
from  influenza  and  tuberculosis  resulted  before  the  people  could 
be  assorted,  families  connected  and  distributed  to  more  comfort- 
able quarters  in  undamaged  villages. 

Next  came  the  task  of  re-establishing  the  homes  in  the 
devastated  regions  as  the  military  released  its  control.  As 
the  Meuse  refugees  were  none  too  welcome  visitors  among  the 
people  who  were  their  official  hosts,  and  as  the  ambition  of  all 
the  better  class  of  the  people  was  to  get  back  and  reclaim  their 
former  homes  at  the  first  possible  moment,  the  urgent  problem  was 
to  have  some  housing  accommodation  ready  for  the  people  as  they 
made  their  way  back  in  time  to  get  even  a bit  of  spring  planting 
done  as  a start  toward  the  possibilities  of  rehabitation.  Profit- 
ing by  the  experience  of  evacuation  days,  the  first  necessity  was 
the  establishment  of  so-called!:hotel  barracks'  that  would  be  running 
with  canteen  and  sleeping  accommodations  at  the  chief  centers  for 
-*(See  illustration,  page  66.) 


•-  s. 


, 


t - . i:  . ■ • 


- — • • • . 


-■  i ■ 
. 


„ .. 


. 


. ii 


• _ > t 


... 


. 


. ..  J "■ 


66 


"La  Maison  des  Etoiles",  -first  hostel  to  he  erected  at 
Clermont  en  Argonne  h3r  the  Society  of  Friends,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  accommodations  to  the  returning  refugees 
in  the  devastated  regions  of  the  Meuse. 


(See  text,  page  65.) 


' 


- 


67. 


those  who  came  back  to  find  their  former  homes  but  unrecognizable 
piles  of  crumbling  stone  or  shattered  masses  of  shelled  debris 
and  charred  ruins.  Such  places  as  these  barracks  afforded  a center 
for  family  reunions,  for  information  and  advice,  material  aid  and 
spiritual  comfort.  Architecturally,  these  hotels  were  lacking  in 
all  but  economical  planning,  the  elements  being  convenient  kitchen 
and  dining  room,  store-room  for  relief  supplies,  separate  dormi- 
tories, with  camp  cots  and  clean  blankets,  for  men  and  women,  or, 
more  preferable,  separate  cubicals  with  wood  or  merely  muslin 
partitions  to  give  some  privacy  to  grief  or  illness.  Such  were 
among  the  first  new  establishments  at  Clermont  en  Argonne,  Dom- 
basle,  Varennes,  Rheiras  and  other  places  where  the  Societe  des 
Amis*l  undertook  the  manifold  problems  of  reconstruction  and  relief 
of  war  victims. 

The  most  feasible  type  of  barrack  used  for  these  refugee 
hotels  was  the  one  of  demountable  sections  such  as  the  Adrian  type 
used  in  the  French,  British  and  later  American  camp  construction. 
Floor,  walls  and  roofs,  all  being  made  in  sections,  such  a "hut" 
could  readily  be  thrown  together.  Being  of  uniform  plan,  it  could 
be  of  a length  such  as  the  need  might  be  or  the  site  permitted. 

As  the  need  of  such  buildings  was  but  temporary,  the  sectional 
barracks  had  the  further  advantage  of  permitting  rapid  demounting 
and  transfer  to  new  areas  as  occasion  demanded.  Even  in  large 
barracks  with  walls  of  but  a single  board  in  thickness,  consider- 
able warmth  and  comfort  could  be  obtained  by  tar-paper  lining  which 
could  be  whitewashed  on  the  interior.  The  roofs  were  covered  with 

*1  English  and  American  Society  of  Friends  (Quakers.). 


68. 


tar-paper  or  tile-  -Many  such  barracks  offered  the  first  shelter 
and  encouragement  to  the  returning  victims,  and,  even  after  separ- 
ate houses  had  been  erected  and  damaged  houses  had  been  repaired, 
still  continued  to  serve  the  community  as  school,  church,  hospital 
or  municipal  center. 

The  next  step  in  the  process  of  emergency  housing 
was,  once  the  returned  citizen  had  been  given  a welcome  of  food 
and  temporary  shelter,  to  make  possible  the  re-establishment  of 
his  old  occupation  and  means  of  livelihood  for  himself  and  family. 

As  the  land  was  the  natural  source  of  income  in  most  of  this  region, 
shelter  for  man  and  the  live  stock  that  he  often  brought  back  from 
his  exile  with  him,  was  essential.  Horses,  cows  and  small  animals, 
agricultural  implements,  seeds,  live  stock,  household  furnishings, 
clothes  and  food  had  to  be  provided,  so  stores  where  such  commodi- 
ties could  be  obtained  were  early  essential.  Above  all  was  the 
need  of  every  family  to  have  a household  as  the  motif  around  which 
all  the  new  life  might  center,  as  well  as  for  the  necessity  of  hav- 
ing protection  from  the  elements.  Left-over  army  barracksy  " ele- 

■ 

phant  irons"  (sheet  metal  sections  used  for  shell  proof  protection 
of  men,  supplies  and  ammunition),  the  wrecks  of  former  buildings, 
abandoned  freight  cars  could  be? and  often  were, converted  into  farm 
buildings.  Cooperative  stores  established  in  quickly  erected 
huts,  and  supplied  by  generous  material  contributions  of  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross,  liquidated  army  supplies  or  gifts,  all  judicially 
controlled  and  administered,  solved  the  problem  for  the  supply  of 

necessary  provisions.  These  needs  having  been  met,  the  building 

-*(See  illustrations,  page  69.) 

. J 


69. 


t Group  of  Emergency  Hospital  barracks  at  Brizeaux, 
Meuse.  Adrian  barrack  on  the  right.  Mission  and 
French  huts  on  left  of  court. 


Emergency  housing  in  the  Argonne  forest. 


3 "Apartment  House  made  from  Army 
Barracks.  Camouflaged  boards  add 
a bit  of  interest* i10l  novelty. 

(See  text,  page  oo . ) 


of  the  homes  could  be  attempted. 

It  would  have  been  a rather  Hercul&h  task  for  any  one 
man  or  even  group  of  men,  without  a large  amount  of  political, 
financial  and  physical  backing,  to  have  attempted  the  problems 
of  rehabitation  in  any  of  the  more  seriously  devastated  regions- 

The  barren  wastes  of  Northern  France  which  one  still  encounters 

h 

en  route  from  Paris  to  Brussels,  from  Rpims  to  Lille,  testify  to 
this  fact.  Gigantic  enough  was  the  task  that  awaited, and  still  to 
a large  degree  confronts, the  returned  inhabitants  of  the  regions 
where  organized  aid  in  re an struct ion  has  been  generously  given  by 
private  and  governmental  assistance. 

As  an  example  of  the  emergency  housing  and  rehabitation 
as  promoted  by  foreign  aid,  there  may  be  given  a survey  with  some 
of  the  details  that  became  the  special  problem  of  the  Anglo-Ameri- 
caine  Society  des  Amis  (English-American  Society  of  Friends  or 
"Quakers" ) . With  a reputation  for  relief  work  among  war  victims 
dating  back  to  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870,.  and  with  four 
years  of  special  experience  in  relief  work  during  the  Great  War, 
they  were  on  the  field  to  offer  well  formulated  plans  for  recon- 
struction the  moment  hostilities  ceased.  Backed  by  their  records 
of  war  work  in  the  Marne  and  lower  part  of  the  Meuse,  the  organiza- 
tion was  encouraged  to  undertake  the  greater  problems  of  reconstruc- 
tion that,  late  in  1918,  opened  up  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
Department  of  the  Meuse  of  which  Bar  le  Due  is  the  prefecture. 

■K 

Forty-four  villages,  some  unoccupied  since  the  Germans  burned  them 

in  1914,  some  levelled  in  the  great  battle  for  Verdun  in  1916,  some 

* ( See  map , page  7 1 • ) 


71 


May  showing  the  location  of  the  forty-four  villages  of 

the  Verdun  area,  whose  reconstruction  was  undertaken  by  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  1918-19. 


(See  text,  page  70.) 


j 


72. 


• 

intact  until  the  last  weeks  or  days  of  the  war  when  the  rapid 
advance  of  the  American  army  and  the  destructive  retreat  of  the 
Germans  left  them  in  ruins,  a few  scarcely  injured  except  by  the 
occupation  or  neglect  of  four  years  of  war,  were  included  in  the 
area  known  as  the  "Verdun  region”  which  the  Society  of  Friends, 
at  the  request  of  the  French  government,  undertook  to  reconstruct 
and  rehabilitate.  Probably  no  corner  of  France  had  suffered  more 
from  the  war,  for  within  its  area  was  included  the  famous  "Mort 
Homme",  Voquois  Hill,  Varennes  en  Argonne,  Four  de  Paris,  the 
forest  villages  of  Very  and  Cheppy,  while  later  Monfaucon,  Grand 
Pre  and  Attigny  in  the  Ardennes,  were  included  in  the  housing 
program. 

The  problem  was  one  which  to  be  solved  effectively  tad 
to  be  solved  most  promptly.  The  organization  was  well  establish- 
ed with  home  offices  in  London  and  Philadelphia,  to  manage  funds, 
determine  general  policies  and  select  personnel  . The  central 
administration  bureau  was  well  established  in  Paris.  Many  volun- 
teer English  and  American  relief  workers  were  in  the  field, oc- 
cupied with  work  among  the  refugees.  With  the  signing  of  the 
armistice,  the  general  desire  of  the  refugees  was  to  get  back  into 
the  devastated  regions* and  so  the  problem  was  to  have  a rehousing 
scheme  organized  and  work  started  in  the  field  to  meet  the  return- 
ing inhabitants.  Contact  had  been  made  with  many  of  the  Meusene 
peasants  during  their  sad  days  of  flight  and  exile,  by  various  re- 
lief workers  of  the  organization.  Through  the  mayors,  cures 

- - ____ 


.. 


■ 

.. 

* 

' 

' 


. 


. 


. 

: 


‘ 


■ 


♦ 

’ 

• 

• 

• 

. 

73. 


and.  responsible  representatives  of  the  destroyed  villages,  the 

plans  were  made  known  and  encouragement  and  cooperation  given. 

Preparation  had  been  made  by  a listing  of  names  and  property  own- 
the 

ere  and /securing  of  maps  and  village  records  from  the  fortunately 
undestroyed  files  of  the  departmental  offices  at  Bar  le  Due. 

Most  important,  there  wasa  large  supply  of  demounted  sectional 
houses  that  had  been  manufactured  during  the  last  years  of  the 
war  in  factories  run  by  the  organization  at  Dole  and  Ornans  in 
the  Jura.  These  specially  designed  houses  had  been  well  and 
economically  manufactured  from  Swiss  lumber  in  prospects  of  the 
unknown  time  when  the  demand  for  such  would  be  sudden  and  intense. 
Time  justified  the  forethought,  for  almost  as  soon  as  the  re- 
fugees began  to  arrive  back  into  the  devastated  regions,  carloads 
of  these  houses  were  being  piled  near  the  sites  of  their  wrecked 
villages.  Previous  housing  schemes  executed  earlier  at  Sermaize 

les  Bains  in  the  Marne  had  made  "cites”  of  brick  walled  houses, 

the 

but  the  difficulty  of  the  transport  of  brick, /time  and  expense 

the 

of  labor  required,  and /lack  of  proper  sand  for  mortar,  made  other 
than  the  demountable  houses  impractical  for  that  time. 

In  general,  the  method  of  procedure  in  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  home  life  of  a village  could  be  divided  into  two 
types,  although  each  village  offered  a unique  problem  or  a com- 
posite of  distinct  problems.  The  simplier  of  the  two  was  where 
the  entire  village  or  a part  of  the  village  had  been  so  entirely 
destroyed  that  any  attempt  at  restoration  seemed  futile.  In  such 
a case,  it  was  better  to  erect  on  a clear  space  as  convenient  to 


mm 


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the  old  village  site  as  the  nature  of  the  land  would  permit,  the 
nucleus  of  a new  village.  As  most  villages  owned  good  communal 
land,  the  site  could  usually  quickly  be  determined  by  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  mayor,  and,  unhampered  by  property  lines  and  petty 
personal  ambitions,  some  attempts  could  be  made  toward  improved 
schemes  of  village  planning  with  regards  for  convenience,  sanita- 
tion and  even  an  attempt  at  an  artistic  setting.  Such  schemes 
were  effected  at  the  previously  mentioned  village  of  Sermaize  les 
Bains  and  at  Pargny  in  the  Marne,  at  Aubreville,  Neuvilley  and 
Lacfi/Lade  in  the  Argonne,  and  at  Montfaucon. 

The  more  common  problem  was  caused  by  the  partial  de- 
struction of  many  of  the  villages,  that  is,  by  the  survival  of 
enough  buildings,  even  in  a badly  destroyed  state,  to  enable  a 
village  to  retain  its  old  character.  Here, property  lines  played 
an  important  role,  and  each  petition  for  a new  house  meant  the 
clearing  away  of  debris,  the  utilization  of  often  existing  cellars 
and  a regard  for  garden  sites  and  landmarks.  Once  the  house  was 
erected  to  the  attempted  satisfaction  of  owner,  officials  and 
neighbors,  the  result  was  apt  to  be  anything  but  a homogeneous 
effort  at  village  planning,  but  much  in  the  way  of  permanent 
beauty  could  not  be  expected  in  the  practical  utilitarism  of 
emergency  bousing. 

The  partially  destroyed  villages,  as  well  as  practically 
all  the  villages  within  the  warring  districts  or  wherever  normal 
life  had  been  interrupted  by  the  army  occupation,  offered  a great 


. 


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75. 


field  for  repair  work  in  connection  with  the  rehousing  problem. 

With  building  materials  very  scarce  and  correspondingly  expensive, 
with  lack  of  craftsmen  and  man  power,  due  to  the  losses  and  de- 
layed demobilization,  with  the  rapid  decay  of  buildings  once  dis- 
integration started,  the  task  of  making  repairs  wherever  possible 
was  a most  essential  and  urgent  one.  Working  tools  and  temporary 
repair  materials  such  as  tarred  paper  roofing  and  lining  mater- 
ials with  special  fastening  devices,  raw  tar  for  sealing  and 
sanitation,  quick  lime  and  whitewashing  materials  and  various 
other  disinfectants,  oiled  cloth  or  paper  (papier  d'huile)  to  take 
the  place  of  broken  glass,  and  rough  cement  for  stopping  holes 
with  broken  stone,  were  on  the  list  of  first  essentials.  Later 
came  stock  windows,  roof  tile,  lumber,  lime  plaster,  more  cement, 
putty,  glass  and  all  kinds  of  hardware,  tools  and  fixtures, 
paints  and  wall-paper.  Where  restoration  could  be  made,  it  was 
the  greatest  satisfaction  to  perserve  the  fine  proportions  and 
graceful  outlines  of  the  charming  stone  and  tile  and  half-timber- 
ed structures  of  former  times  when  the  French  built  with  such  re- 
finement of  form  and  solidity  of  construction. 

In  spite  of  the  possibilities  of  the  repair  and  restora-  j 
tion  work,  the  demountable  section  houses,  or  "baraques",  were 
perhaps  the  most  important  feature  of  the  reconstruction  work. 

After  the  supply  of  so-called  "Mission  Houses",  those  manufactured 
by  the  " Societe  des  Amis"  at  Dole  and  Ornans,  had  been  exhausted  ' 
by  the  early  summer  of  1918,  other  types  were  imported  from 


76. 


Switzerland  or  provided  from  the  stock  houses  of  the  French  govern- 
ment. Design  and  plans  for  what  experience  has  shown  to  be  the 
most  feasible  and  durable  house  for  similar  purposes  are  here 
shown  (plates  7? -79 ) , the  characteristics  emphasized  being  ease 
and  simplicity  of  erection  by  small  groups  of  none  too  skilled 
labor,  stability,  warmth,  convenience,  durability  and  general  ap- 
pearance . 


The  type  of  demountable  house  here  shown  was  made  up 
of  typical  sections,  simple  and  economical  to  manufacture  even 
with  unskilled  labor  and  no  very  high  power  machinery.  As  the 

/t 

four  types  of  houses,  classified  as  to  size  (plate  77),  contain 
many  similar  sections,  the  possibility  of  adding  variety  and 
adaptability  without  complications  was  afforded.  This  type  of 
house  with  tiled  roof  ought  to  offer  comfortable  shelter  for  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  years,  during  Tirhich  time  the  people  of 
thrift  and  industry  would  no  doubt  be  able  to  build  for  themselves 
new  homes  and  public  buildings,  as  was  found  to  be  the  case  in 
several  Marne  towns  in  a much  shorter  space  of  time. 

The  process  of  construction  was  simple.  Petition  having- 
been  made  for  a house,  land  records  and  rights  of  claim  having 
been  promptly  decided  by  the  cure  or  mayor  working  with  the  build- 
ing representative  ”au  courant"  with  local  affairs,  the  site  was 
jointly  agreed  upon  and  the  sections  delivered.  Foundation  stones 
were  usually  easily  available  from  destroyed  stone  buildings,  or 
the  heavy  concrete  anchor  blocks  that  the  American  army  had 


77. 


v/ 


B 


B 


H 


3. 


Type,  A 2.  Boom- 

BIZE-^Meter^x  8M-  =(13 12X26  24 )( 


YPICAL  PlANS—ToE; 

Demountable:  Houses- 

Minion  be  la  jocirri  de^  Am \y 

Inch  Section' 
beioc  PSdir>- 
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accorHmG 
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Type  B 2 Roomj  with  5hep 

5IZL  6-5  M x 8 M =0468'x26-24'J. 


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Type.  C 5 Booms- 

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Type:  "D‘^3  Godm^  with  cShedy 

5ILL-G-5M-X  68'X  ^6-o8j- 


78. 


79. 


■ 

* 


80. 


brought  into  the  region  preparatory  for  the  coming  of fensive, were 
utilized.  The  floor  beams  and  joists,"' trimmed  and  cut  to  exact 
size,  were  quickly  laid  in  place  and  spiked.  Upon  these  the 
ready  made  floor  sections  were  laid.  This  formed  a solid  plat- 
form upon  which  the  wall  sections  could  be  stood,  their  lower 
ends  fitting  into  the  groove  made  by  the  floor  slabs  and  the 
girder  plates.  The  clearly  numbered  sections  were  fitted  and 
bolted  together  with  "cover- joints”  similar  to  the  ones  used  on 
the  exterior  face  to  obscure  the  place  of  union.  A plate  fitted 
into  the  tops  of  the  sections  , further  secured  them  and  gave 
bearing  for  the  roof  joists  or  rafters  upon  which  the  sheathing 
sections  of  the  roof  and  ceiling  could  be  placed.  The  interior 
partitions  were  of  sections  of  similar  construction  to  that  of 
the  exterior  walls  except  that  both  faces  were  of  the  same  in- 
terior finish  of  matched  and  beaded  "sapin"  (pine).  Doors  and 
window  frames  for  casements  came  in  special  sections.  The  over- 
hang of  the  eaves  was  sufficient  to  throw  off  the  excessive  rain- 
fall of  Northern  France  and  added  much  to  the  appearance  of  the 
rather  neat  cottage  after  the  red  interlocking  French  tiles,  - 
manufactured  in  the  neighboring  Marne  valley,  - were  added  with 
chimney  caps  of  the  same  material.  Brown  creosote  painted  on 
the  exterior  perserved  the  wood  and  gave  an  attractive  combination 
with  the  dull  red  roofs  which  quickly  gathered  moss  to  enrich  the 
tonation,  A group  of  six  workmen  have  the  record  of  erecting  one 
such  house  daily  in  the  spring  of  1919  at  Neuvilley  en  Argonne. 

( See  illustrations,  page  81.) 


81 


The  first  stage  of  construction 
showing  arrangement  of  beams 
and  floor  construction. 


Erecting  the  walls . 


Cutting  on  the  roof 
sections  prepara- 
tory to  "throwing" 
on  the  tile. 


"Mission  Houses"  in  different 
stages  of  erection  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  devas- 
tated regions  of  Northern 
France . 


(See  text,  page  80 . ) 


The  completed  2~room  house. 


82 


(See  text, 
page  63 . ) 


The  rehousing  scheme  at  Serrnaize  les  Bains,  Marne,-  destroyed  'W 


Looking  down  the  Main  Street. 


House  of  M.  Brochereau,  village  ca.rpenter. 


The  village  pump,  “Serrnaize  les  Bains. 


83. 


The  accompanying  map  ( page  71 ) shows  the  villages  and  area  where 
similar  housing  work  was  attempted  during  1918-20,  while  the  il- 
lustrated cite  of  Sermaize  les  Bains^in  the  Marne  was  completed 
in  1916. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1920,  all  the  requests  for 
homes  that  had  been  received  from  the  people  who  wished  again  to 
take  up  their  residence  in  the  devastated  district  of  the  Meuse, 

had  been  met  by  the  erection  of  the  desired  barrack,  or  building 

sales  at 

material  and  labor  had  been  offered  at  cooperative/and/cost  prices 
for  repair  work  upon  former  homes  where  such  was  feasible.  Taken 
as  a whole,  the  experience  stands  out  as  unique  in  the  solution 
of  the  .emergency  housing  problems  for  destitute  and  homeless 
people.  Naturally,  this  region  must  for  years  bear  the  scars  of 
cruel  wounds.  In  but  few  cases,  (notably  the  Hospital  Ste.  Marie 
at  Clermont  en  Argonne,  restored  and  remodeled  for  the  work  of  the 
Sisters  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  by  the  Friends*  Unit),  could  restora- 
tions or  permanent  reconstruction  be  attempted  during  the  first 
years  after  the  war.  Most  essentially  an  emergency  housing  prob- 
lem, uhe  first  attempt  was  to  get  the  returned  people  housed  so 
that  they  could  again  take  up  the  work  of  normal  life  and  by  their 
own  sturdy  industry  make  the  rolling  hectares  of  the  Meuse  flour- 
ish and  bloom  under  the  care  of  their  own  sturdy  sons  and  daughters 
who,  the  bulwarks  of  the  French  nation,  made  possible  the  renowned 
motto  of  their  own  memorial  Verdun,  "On  ne  passe  pas!" 


# (See  illustrations,  page  82.) 


84. 


CONCLUSION. 


The  conclusions  that  may  he  dram  from  this  resumd  and 
analysis  of  the  emergency  housing  problem  are  generally  obvious. 
The  observations  and  experiences  all  point  to  the  vital  import- 
ance that  housing  a people  plays  in  the  moral,  social  and  eco- 
nomic welfare  of  every  race  and  every  people  of  all  times  and 
climes.  Firstly,  there  must  be  deduced  the  emphatic  necessity 
or  a wide  recognition  of  the  emergency  of  the  housing  problem 
and  the  importance  of  a serious  striving  toward  its  solution 
for  future  welfare.  Secondly,  there  must  be  realized  the  fact 
that,  especially  in  recent  years,  the  preparation  of  adequate 
housing  has,  only  in  a small  measure,  kept  pace  with  the  in- 
crease in  population  and  the  higher  standards  of  living  for  the 
masses  of  the  people,  which  must  ever  be  the  aspiration  of  a 
rising  civilization.  Thirdly,  it  is  apparent  that  delay  on  the 
road  of  steady  progress, and  the  inability  to  rise  to  the  occas- 
ion and  take  advantage  of  unexpected  circumstances,  may  mark  a 
cross-road  leading  to  disaster.  Fourthly,  modern  social  tenden- 
cies sho?/  that  the  virus  of  small  town  decay,  as  well  as  many 
of  the  ills  that  infect  the  great  towns,  can  well  be  fought  by 
means  of  providing  opportunely  and  promptly  the  proper  homes  in 
the  proper  environment.  In  all  aspects,  the  vital  importance 
of  providing  homes  for  a people  makes  it  a problem  of  "Emergency 
Housing" . 


“ ' ■’  ' ' '■  * "'I  - • . ,/j  , 


85- 


Some  of  the  housing  problems  that  have  confronted 
other  people  at  various  times  give  evidence  of  the  opportunities 
for  which  the  architects  of  to-day  must  be  prepared  if  they  are 
to  play  the  major  parts  in  the  masterly  rendering  of  a mighty 
drama.  Perhaps  more  than  for  any  other  profession,  it  is  for 
them  to  solve  the  materialistic,  economic  problem  that  7/ill 
raise  the  standards  of  living  and  bring  system,  order,  simplic- 
ity and  beauty  out  of  the  chaos  toward  which  our  ever  more  in- 
volved and  complicated  civilization  seems  pushing. 

The  consideration  of  the  emergency  housing  problems 
brought  about  by  great  natural  disasters,  shows  how  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly  the  needs  of  homes  for  the  comfort  and  even 
life  of  a great  mass  of  people  may  come.  It  is  concluded,  fur- 
thermore, that  only  rarely  has  there  been  a trained  profession 
capable  of  coping  with  such  situations  that  demand  the  highest 
type  of  co" operation,  trained  architectural  and  executive  skill 
and  devotion  to  exacting  social  service.  In  spite  of  the  suf- 
ferings and  misfortune  that  natural  disasters  inflict  upon  in- 
dividuals, unusual  opportunities  are  thus  opened  for  the  arch- 
itect to  create  more  ideal  conditions. 

A resumd  of  the  work  which  the  United  States  govern- 
ment promoted  as  a measure  for  gaining  necessary  war  production, 
gives  evidence  of  the  importance  of  the  rapid  provision  of  com- 
fortable housing  for  industrial  workers.  While  suitable  houses 
for  all  classes  of  people  are  essential  to  the  welfare  of  <3. 
nation  in  normal  times.  the  provision  of  them  becomes  an  emerg- 


. 


86. 


ency  problem  in  times  of  national  stress. 

The  presentation  of  the  problem  of  Buckman  Village, 
Chester,  Pa.,  one  of  the  housing  projects  of  the  Emergency 
Fleet  Corporation,  shows  an  example  of  an  efficient  solution 
of  the  problem  of  making  an  attractive  village  of  groups  of 
economically  planned  small  houses.  Resultant  of  the  extensive 
study  leading  to  the  solution  of  this  problem,  are  concluded 
the  ultimate  schemes  of  the  small,  attached  house  plan  and  its 
environs  that  fulfill  the  just  requirements  of  American  home 
rights, even  under  stressed  conditions. 

Finally,  experiences  in  the  region  where  war  devastation 
made  emergency  housing  problems  of  the  first  magnitude,  give- 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  importance  of  prompt  housing  facil- 
ities to  enable  the  reorganization  of  social  and  industrial- 
routine,  to  heal  the  wounds  of  war,  and  even  to  protect  human 
lives  from  death  or  worse  depths  of  living  degradation.  While 
no  two  cases  of  war  devastation  would  ever  impose  very  similiar 
conditions  as  far  as  the  details  of  rehousing  are  concerned, 
all  experiences  in  rising  to  emergencies,  in  the  provision  of 
houses  as  in  anything  else,  have  a potent  value.  In  the  French 
problem,  the  need  for  the  prompt  provision  of  necessary  repair 
materials  and  quickly  mountable  houses,  was  perhaps  only  equaled 
by  the  need  for  encouragement  and  organization,  for  prompt 
action  and  unselfish  service  in  the  promotion  of  reconstruction 
of  which  housing  is  the  most  concrete  evidence.  The  rehabitat- 
ion and  restoration,  social  and  material,  of  forts'-- four  Meusene 
villages  of  the  "Verdun  region”  of  war-torn  France  , give 


87. 


=*1 

visible  proof  of  what  may  be  done  by  rehousing  a people  even 
in  the  brief  period  of  less  than  two  years  after  the  most  waste- 
ful and  chaotic  destruction  and  disorganization. 

From  a psychological  viewpoint,  the  aesthetic,  and  con- 
sequently spiritual,  part  that  emergency  housing  may  play  in  the 
rescue  of  a stricken  people  or  in  the  elevation  of  their  more 
normal  existance,  can  not  be  neglected  in  this  summation.  The 
part  that  beauty,  color,  harmony  and  order  play  in  society, must 
be  recognized  whether  it  be  in  a great,  bustling,  industrial  city 
of  America  or  in  a small,  obscure,  rural,  crumbling  village  of 
Europe.  Minus  the  existance  of  beauty,  itself,  there  is  an 
emergency  housing  problem  if  the  inhabitants  of  either  place 
arc  to  live  soundly  and  prosper. 

Finally,  in  summation  of  all,  may  it  be  hoped  that 
the  future  is  not  far  distant  when  Architecture,  having  won  its 
true  position  as  the  most  useful  of  the  Fine  Arts,  the  finest  of 
the  Useful  Arts,  may  more  promptly  fulfill  Her  mission,  in 
emergencies  as  efficient  healer  of  social  ruptures,  in  leisure 
as  inspiring  teacher  of  a higher  culture,  while  She  records  in 
lasting  stone  and  steel,  the  progress  of  a greater  civilization 
than  has  yet  been  written  on  the  pages  of  history. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


AUTHORS 

Baxter,  Sylvester,  - The  Future  of  Industrial  Housing. 

Brown,  F.C.,  - Workmen's  Housing  at  Hopedale,  Massachusetts. 

Childs,  R,  S.,  - The  First  War  Emergency  Government  Towns 
For  Ship-yard  Workers. 

Frothingham,  Paul  R. , - Copartnership  in  Housing:  Social 

Service  Series.  - Bulletin  No.  31. 

Comstock,  Wrn.  Phillips,  - The  Housing  Book. 

Southern  Pine  Association,  - Homes  for  Workmen. 

Viollet-le-Duc , - Histoire  du  Fort  , Paris  1877. 

Wuttke,  Robert,  - Die  Deutschen  Stadte,  Leipzig,  1904, 

2 Vol . 

Pepys,  Samuel,  - Diary. 

Wheatley,  Henry,  F.S.A.,  - History  of  London. 

Watrous,  R.  B.,  - Personal  Observations  of  Some  Develop- 
ments in  Housing  in  Europe.,  Vol.  2,  332-343. 


v 1 . 


. i. 


t 


V.  ; 


. ... 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  (Cont'd.) 


JOURNALS 

American  Architect. 

Greeley,  W.R.  - Portsmouth  and  the  War.  16  Oct., 1918. 
Herding,  F.  J.  - Workingmen 1 s Colony,  Youngstown,  10/2/18. 
Schuchardt,  W.H.  - The  Fibre  of  the  Nation,  3/12;  6/18; 
7/23;  1913. 

Some  Observations  on  the  Housing  Problems, 

Vol . 103,  104,  105. 

Smith,  H.A.  - War  and  Industrial  Housing,  1/9/18;  3/27/18. 


American  Institute  Architectural  Journal. 

1918  (July- February)  1915  (January-February ) . 

Plans  for  Rehousing  the  Workers  of  England.  7/18. 
Gretna,  the  British  Government  Munition  Town.  2/18. 
Industrial  Housing  in  England  and  France.  1/2/15. 
Notes  on  Rebuilding  in  France  and  Belgium.  4/18. 
Reconstruction  in  France.  10/18. 

Small  House  Reconstruction  in  France.  3/18. 


Architecture 

Eidlitz,  0.  M.  - Industrial  Housing  Fighters.  Vol. 37,  4/16 
May,  Chas.  C.  - Industrial  Housing,  Vol.  35,  4/17. 


Architectural  Forum 

Industrial  Housing.  4/18. 

Bossom,  A.C.  - The  Housing  of  Employees.  8/17. 

Crawford,  A.  W.  - Y/artime  Housing.  4/18. 

Flagg,  M.I.  - State  Aid  for  Home  Builders.  11/17. 

Howe,  F.  R.  - Federal  Aid  to  Home  Builders.  5/19. 

Kilham,  W.  H.  - Housing  the  Single  Worker.  5/18. 

Kilham  and  Hopkins,  - Housing  the  Low  Paid  Workman.  5/18. 
Litchfield,  E.D.  - Yorkship  Villages.  6/18. 

MacNeille,  P.  R.  - The  Architects'  Relationship  to  An 
Industrial  Housing  Development.  4/18. 
Marlowe,  G.  F.  - House  Types  in  Industrial  Communities. 
4/18. 

May,  C.  C.  - Housing  Types  for  Workmen  in  America.  4/18. 
Nolen,  John  - The  Essential  Principles  of  Industrial 
Development.  4/18. 

Randal,  Robert  - Copartnership  Housing  in  England. 

V.  25,  12/16. 


vl  1 . 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  (Cont ' d . ) 


Architectural  Record. 

Bossom,  A.  C.  - Homes  for  War-time  Worders.  Vol.  44, 
p.  214  - 224. 

Hamlin,  A.  D.  F.  - The  Workingman  and  His  House, 

Vol.  44,  p.  302  - 325. 

The  U.S.  Housing  Corporation  Pro  jet  No.  59,  Bath,  Maine, 

1/19. 

Veiller,  Lawrence,  - Industrial  Housing  Developments 
in  America,  Vol.  44,  p.  49  - 58,  140-151. 


Architectural  Review. 

Housing  Development  at  Watertown.,  Vol.  24,  12/18. 

Davison,  R.  L.  - The  Problem  of  Low  Cost  Housing, 
Vol.  21,  May,  1916. 

Ihlder,  John  - The  Housing  of  Wage  Earners,  Vol.  25, 
January,  1919. 

Macartney, Mewyn  - The  Working  Class  Housing  Problem 
and  Its  Solution,  London,  September,  1917. 
Mann  and  MacNeille  - The  Town  of  Perry  Point, 

Vol.  25,  2/19. 

Warner,  Ralph  - Marble  Shoals,  Vol.  25,  1/19. 


vi-ii . 


